


Harry Potter and the Man of Iron 1

by Madz616



Series: Harry Potter and the Man of Iron [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel
Genre: Because Tony Stark, Canon Divergence - Iron Man 1, Canon Divergence - Post-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Love, M/M, Relationship(s), World Separation, brief Long-Distance Relationship, canon angst, follows plot of Iron Man 1, happy relationship, just with Harry added in, mostly - Freeform, the Magical's created their own separate world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-08 15:19:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17983598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madz616/pseuds/Madz616
Summary: The Magical's were separating form the Mundane world. No longer able to ensure their secrecy with the advancing technology of the Muggles, they were leaving entirely.Harry wasn't going with them.Or, the one where Harry met Tony and the events of the first Iron Man movie mostly happen anyway.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bit of a labour of love, combining my two favourite fandoms, and my two favourite characters.  
> There is creative licence sprinkled throughout, but this does follow the plot line of Iron Man pretty closely. Except, you know, with Harry Potter and Tony Stark together and (as the story progresses) in love.  
> My own editing only, so please bare with me in terms of errors. 
> 
> Per my general writing style, there is an air of 'Mary Sue' around the characters in regards to their strengths, though hopefully nothing beyond the precedent the Marvel Universe has already set. I've written something I would like to read - not necessarily something super realistic in terms of canon.  
> I'm hoping to carry it through to the Avengers, with Iron Man 2 already under way. 
> 
> Some swearing, though not excessive I hope, and allusions to / mentions of sex, however nothing graphic. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this retelling of Iron Man with just a pinch of magic, though please excuse any cliches - sometimes they become cliches because they work.

The first time Hadrian met Tony Stark they were both twenty-two and attending a conference on applied advanced mechanical physics in Amsterdam. Harry wasn’t there to learn, rather it was a favour to Hermione.

Harry had been standing next to Hermione, acting mostly as body guard rather than actually learning. The talking part of the conference had ended and now everyone was mingling, so Harry refused to move more than two feet from his best friend despite that fact that intellectually, he knew she was more than a match for anyone else in the room.

Because of that, he was standing right next to her when Tony Stark started flirting. Hermione handled it well to begin with, but Stark was forward. Harry had stepped in.

“Mr Stark, is it?” Harry cut in, Hermione smiling at him thankfully.

The rich, admittedly genius man’s gaze immediately went to Harry, the intelligent brown eyes running up and down as though sizing him up. Harry saw the change in him, saw his thoughts turn from flirting to keep his image to genuine interest. Harry could admit that the man was good looking, just a touch taller than Harry was with dark brown hair and a carefully trimmed van dyke.

“That’s right. I don’t believe I know who you are though.” The man asked with a smile. The smile was an odd thing, the curve genuine but the teeth simply there for effect. Harry knew that Stark was world famous and had been raised in front of the camera, but seeing the tabloid grin just saddened him.

Harry knew what it was like to be both simultaneously adored and loathed.

“Hadrian Potter-Black.” Harry answered formally, trying to show that he wasn’t interested. It was a lie, but Harry wouldn’t leave Hermione that night. “Unfortunately, while Mrs Weasley-Granger is looking absolutely stunning, I feel I have to inform you that she is also happily married.”

Stark’s eyes had darted towards both Hermione and Harry’s ring fingers, lingering on Harry’s bare hand before rising to Hermione’s face once more.

“Your husband is an exceedingly lucky man.” Stark said, kissing Hermione carefully on the knuckles before stepping back, smirking at the blush painting her cheeks.

Then, with a level of subtlety that he had doubted the man possessed, Stark had simply raised a questioning eyebrow at Harry, double checking he wasn’t interested. For a second Harry was actually disappointed that he was escorting Hermione, disappointed that he couldn’t risk a fling with someone so famous, couldn’t risk his problems coming back to bite him in the ass. He allowed a half second to mourn what could have been before regretfully shaking his head.

Stark had watched him closely, his eyes razor sharp. It seemed he had seen the regret because the smirk he sported had softened. It was commiserating. And then Stark had left, moving on to the next person. Half an hour later Hermione and Harry had left too, returning to England.

The sharp brown eyes had haunted him for a single night before Harry had banished them. He had other problems to worry about.

 

 

 

Times were changing in the magical world. As the Muggles progressed with their technology, it had become increasingly obvious that the Magical Community’s ability to hide themselves was waning.

With Harry’s generation taking charge in the Ministry, change had come. The Magicals were separating from the Mundane world.

It was a monumental effort, involving countless hours of effort and preparation, but they’d already had the method. The idea of an alternate reality had already been implemented previously by the elves of old; it was simply a matter of the details.

Everyone was leaving, bar a stubborn handful. It made sense to move, especially when it would take little to no effort on the part of the individual.

There was even a plan for muggleborns. Portals could be opened on occasion to transfer families. In time, when wizards stopped leaving squibs in orphanages and stopped marrying muggles, muggleborns would stop appearing altogether and the magicals would separate completely.

The process was almost complete. Almost all magicals currently resided in the separate reality.

Hermione had wanted to learn all she could before the magical world finally separated entirely, hence Harry being there to keep her company at various conferences as their time together was short.

Harry was part of the handful that would not be leaving with the rest.

In the four years since the end of the war Ron and Hermione had married. They suited each other perfectly and Harry had no doubt that they would get by just fine without him.

Ginny and Harry had broken up within a year. They’d tried so hard to be right for each other but their personalities had just been too strong. With the war over, Harry had become fiercely independent, never wanting to be controlled again. Ginny had fallen in love with little lost Harry who had needed her to take charge. They were just too different in the end.

Everyone else had moved on, but Harry hadn’t been able to.

The instincts ingrained into him through a life filled with neglect and danger were too hard to shed. He’d tried to work on it, taking muggle self-defense lessons to use up some of his restless energy. While his skills had improved exponentially, his reactions to loud noises and sudden movement hadn’t really lessened. That added to his fame made for a volatile mix. He would have recovered over time, he knew, but there were other factors in his decision. He was still so famous that he couldn’t walk down a street unmolested unless glamoured. His home was under constant bombardment and he was still on occasion targeted by those who saw him as the leader of the changes happening in the community. Finally, the Hallows refused to leave him and he was just too much of a target with them to risk his friends and family.

 

 

 

The second time Harry ran into Tony Stark was a year later, once more with Hermione at the final conference she would attend before leaving for the magical world. The conference was in Bern, Switzerland on New Year’s Eve. This one was a mix of subjects but Harry barely listened. Mentally he was going over everything he would need when the portal closed three days from now. His finances had been finalized, the wealth of the Potter’s and Black’s safely dispersed throughout several muggle banks over the course of several years. His house, a refurbished 12 Grimmauld Place, was mostly magic free beyond his library and the house’s magical protections. He had caught up over the years on muggle advancements, fully able to use a laptop and cellphone as long as he kept ahold of his magic. He wasn’t brilliant, be he could at least turn them on and off now.

He had said his goodbyes.

He was still lost in his thoughts later while he watched Hermione mingle when Tony Stark had suddenly appeared next to him.

“Well hello there, Hadrian Potter-Black.” The man had murmured, startling Harry into reaching for the elder wand hidden magically in his pocket. By the time his mind had caught up to his hand Stark had been looking at him appraisingly, sharp brown eyes glittering over the top of sunglasses.

“Mr Stark.” Harry had replied, a half frown quirking his lips.

“Tony, please.”

Harry turned to look at the man, a year older but hardly changed. He looked tired but hid it well, explaining the sunglasses. For a moment Harry cursed himself. It would be so easy to just say yes, to let Tony take him up to his room for the night and make Harry forget about his three day deadline. But Harry wouldn’t do it. He knew that his mind was far, far to messed up to not form some kind of attachment to the billionaire genius.

He let loose a sigh. “Unfortunately, it will have to stay Mr Stark.” He murmured, shoulder hunching with his unhappiness.

The brown eyes wouldn’t let him go. They seemed to see right through him, seeing every nuance in his body language, every through running through his head.

Tony’s lips had quirked into a smile, small but entirely genuine. “Maybe next time then.” He simply offered.

Harry had barely paused to consider. “Maybe.” He agreed. _Hopefully_ , his mind added.

He and Hermione left ten minutes later.

 

 

 

The third time Harry met Tony Stark was completely accidental and two years later.

Harry had been walking home from the library in London, his head still in the book he had been reading. He had briefly looked for cars before crossing the road but had obviously not looked well enough to notice the black Maybach rounding the corner. He had heard the screech of tires and looked up only to find the car filling his vision.

In the end the car barely hit him, just misbalancing him enough to send him to his ass. Unluckily, the phone that had been in his hand was reduced to so much plastic and glass rubble on the road.

“Merlin dammit.” He muttered, getting to his feet to apologize to the driver whom he had almost made a murderer out of. He never got the chance.

“Are you alright!?” The driver had hurried out of the car, patting Harry down and talking fast with worry. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t even see you till you were right there, and I always forget that Poms drive on the wrong side of the road. Oh, damn, your phone!”

It was then that Harry noticed three things. One, the driver was American. Two, the Maybach was indeed on the wrong side of the road, although the lack of cars in the area meant that the mistake was at least understandable. If you ignored the parked cars and the street signs.

The third thing he noticed was Tony Stark leaning on the back door of the Maybach that he had just been hit by.

“Hadrian Potter-Black.” The man exclaimed, sounding honestly surprised.

Harry felt his mouth fall slightly open in shock. “Tony?” He asked incredulously, automatically referring to the man by his first name as he had been in his head for two years.

Despite his best attempts, his last meeting with Tony was never really far from his mind. It was as though their second meeting had stuck the what-if’s firmly in Harry’s head, making for good fantasies but restless sleep. Harry had convinced himself it was just loneliness. The way his magic was taking notice right now suggested that might not be the case.

Tony smiled at his name, that genuine smile making a reappearance. “Well, it seems like this is my lucky day.” He said walking over. The driver was still fussing but Harry didn’t really notice, even if Tony did.

“Happy, why don’t you get back in the car? Mr Potter-Black will be accompanying us so I can repay hitting him with a car by buying dinner.” Tony said, raising an eyebrow at Harry. The same questioning eyebrow as he had used the first time.

This time however, Harry had absolutely nothing to lose and nothing to hold him back.

“Call me Harry, Tony.” He murmured, nodding his head slightly in agreement.

Tony’s smile was megawatt bright, making his dark eyes light up and Harry couldn’t help but smile in return.

They talked on the way to Tony’s hotel. Easy stuff like where they lived and what they were currently working on. Harry had blushed slightly when admitting he was jobless and living off inheritance money but Tony just laughed. The first true laugh Harry had ever heard from the man. Tony seemed to be particularly enjoying himself with Harry’s lack of knowledge on the engineer. While Harry didn’t live under a rock, he didn’t pay much attention to gossip.

The conversation was easy, smooth. When he wasn’t acting up for the media Tony was charming and witty and so, _so_ clever.

They arrived at the hotel quickly. It took Harry ten minutes solid to assure Happy, as the driver was called, that it wasn’t all his fault, that _Harry_ had been the one not paying attention.

Tony offered to take him to the hotel restaurant but Harry saw the slight tightening of Tony’s shoulders at the idea of dining in public. Harry instead suggested room service and couldn’t help but laugh at the genius’ relief. Despite everything, Tony was still only twenty-five. So was Harry technically, but he had been forced to grow up quickly.  

Dinner was nice. The champagne was nice. The conversation was nicer. They stayed on light topics until finally Tony leaned over to draw Harry into a heart stopping kiss.

Harry was the one to pull back, trying to catch his breath. He met Tony’s eyes, the brown almost hidden by blown pupils. Despite that the gaze was still sharp and insistent.

Harry hated to do it, but it seemed now or never. “Only tonight.” He murmured, lips still tantalizing close to Tony’s. He wasn’t ready to be thrust back into the spotlight and Tony was so popular with the media that it was inevitable he would be seen. Harry could also admit he didn’t want his heart broken.

Tony searched his gaze. Harry wondered if he could see his sadness, his regret at the limitation despite his reasons.

“Well, we better make it a good one.” Tony murmured before pressing their lips together firmly.

It _was_ a good night. So much so that when Harry woke it was after ten and the bed was empty. Harry wasn’t surprised in the slightest. What did surprise him was the phone sitting on the bedside table with a handwritten note.

_For the one I broke. StarkTech, so it’ll always have signal if you can see the sky. Also, free as it uses my satellites. Till next time, T._

Harry could never have predicted just what the phone would bring.

 

 

 

It was three days later when the phone went off. Harry had picked it up curiously as he very rarely received messages.

It was Tony, who had obviously programmed his number into the device. The message was short, but it made Harry smile to know that the man had thought of him.

_Red or blue?_

Harry didn’t know why the man was asking, hadn’t even know that he’d had Tony’s number until right then. But the contact from the genius billionaire soothed something in Harry that he hadn’t noticed until it loosened, his magic sighing in contentment. Despite his magic’s happiness, Harry wondered how long this would last, wondered how long it would take Tony to grow bored with something he had experienced once but wouldn’t again.

Despite his misgivings, Harry replied.

_Red. You? Apples or Oranges?_

Replying turned out to be the best decision of his life.

They traded questions back and forth for the rest of the week. Sometimes meaningless like Harry’s first question but other times more personal like, _Did you get on well with your parents?_ While it still gave Harry a pang of sadness he had asked the question and supplied his own answer. Tony’s answer hadn’t been too promising but Harry understood what the few words were trying to convey.

_No, not really._

_That sucks. Dogs or Cats?_

And they simply moved on.

At one point Harry asked the time where Tony was and was not overly surprised to find out Tony should have been sleeping at such an early hour. Tony had elaborated with _inventing_ and Harry had laughed out loud at the mad scientist vibe.

The replies ranged from instantaneous to drawn out depending on what they both were doing. Harry had looked up the time difference between London and the East Coast of America, determining that London was eight hours ahead, so later in the day for Harry was Tony’s business hours.

Again, some questions were playful, such as _What animal would you be?_ Harry had laughed to himself at the question, replying with an honest _Snow Leopard_ due to his animagus form before laughing again at Tony’s reply.

_A giant kitty cat? Not surprising given how much you like cuddling. I would of course be a dolphin or a crow or something else super smart._

Harry couldn’t resist the reply, _Not a peacock then?_

The little interaction had opened the way for teasing to such a degree that Harry would burst into laughter in the library or in the little cafés he frequented due to Tony’s witticisms.

As the days progressed into weeks the questions became more personal. Kids, relationships, other problems in their lives. Harry found himself much less lonely now that he knew Tony was just a text away.

Harry finally got a job as a barista in a tiny little café in central London, frequented by all kinds of people from the rich and famous to little old ladies who wanted a nice cup of tea. The best part was that the owner, a woman called Winona in her late fifties, didn’t mind if Harry answered texts during quiet times. It was nice to take a break between practicing his magic and attending martial arts lessons, which he had kept up.

He also finally googled Tony, opening up a whole new range of questions.

_You’ve got a Doctorate? And four times over!_

Tony had predictably returned the favour with a super in depth background check. Harry had been curious as to what the man would find and was not disappointed.

_Where were you after you turned eleven?_

_Why were there so many child neglect inquires when you were a kid?_

_Why does your house not exist on StarkMaps?_

Some of them Harry could answer, _a technologically backwards boarding school in Scotland, The Dursleys were good at pretending to be normal when child services visited._ It became much more difficult trying to explain why his house was invisible. He couldn’t really say, _Oh it’s just protected by a Fidelius Charm and also happens to be Unplottable_ , now could he?

Harry agonized over his answer for close to three hours. There was no longer a Statute of Secrecy but he had spent so long protecting himself that letting go was difficult. What if Tony thought he was a freak like his uncle had? What if he told someone else and Harry ended up a prisoner somewhere?

Harry didn’t really believe Tony would do that, but they had only been texting for a matter of months. In the end Harry couldn’t answer.

_Can I ask for a temporary reprieve for that one?_

Harry had waited with bated breath, hoping Tony would hold off.

_You owe me one._

And they simply continued on.

 

 

 

Months turned quickly into two and a half years. Five and a half years since they had first met in Amsterdam. They had actual phone conversations where they talked about nothing for hours. Harry was introduced to JARVIS who apparently also controlled his mobile phone. Tony complained about Stark Industries and Pepper and Rhodey and his Godfather Obie. Harry talked about his lessons and the people he met in the café where he worked to fill the days. He’d grown quite attached to Winona and several of his regulars.

He had also finally given in two months ago and told Tony why he had an invisible house. It had been an actual voice conversation and because of that, Harry had turned into a rambling mess.

“I know you’ve been curious about my house for a while now.” Harry had started well enough.

“ _Damn right I have. You finally gonna spill?_ ” Tony sounded curious and eager.

Harry had sighed gustily and that was what started the verbal diarrhea. “I’m not sure you’re gonna like the reason, because really you are the most science-y guy I have _ever_ met and I can’t give you a real answer that makes sense in physics and math terms because I don’t know if it _has_ a real reason—”

“ _Hey, Hey! Easy there, Kitty cat! Why don’t you try like three words instead of fifty?_ ” Tony interrupted, sounding worried.

Harry stopped, took a deep breath and managed to get out a reasonable sentence. “It’s protected by Magic.” He whispered, slightly miserable, convinced the man would think him insane. Merlin, he hoped Tony didn’t laugh.

“ _You’re serious?_ ” Tony asked, sounding honestly stunned. It was strange for Harry, who had never heard the genius genuinely speechless.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Tony was silent for all of four seconds before, “ _How does that work?_ ”

That had opened the floodgates.

And Tony hadn’t cared. Not about Tom Riddle or Hogwarts. He hadn’t cared about any of it, not even the fact he could turn into a giant man eating cat. In fact, his nick name of Kitty cat just got far more use.

Everything was going so well. That probably should have given it away.

 

 

 

It was the sixth of May. He and Tony were both twenty-eight.

Tony had gone to Afghanistan to do a weapons demonstration. He’d been texting Harry, explaining that he was in the Fun-Vee whilst Rhodey had been demoted to a different convoy.

Harry had been nervous the whole time Tony had been overseas but was unable to explain why to the cocky man. It had gotten so bad that Harry felt sick, hands holding the phone to his chest just waiting for Tony to reply every time.

Then Harry got a single text. It was only seven letters but it was enough.

_Love you._

Harry had stared at the little screen in horror, knowing there was only one reason that Tony would say that to him. They’d agreed years ago that they would never proclaim such affection if it came about unless they were once again face to face.

Harry had immediately called Tony’s phone only to hear a disconnected tone.

“JARVIS?” Harry had asked, breath caught in his throat as panic began to creep up. The AI was usually good for conversation and he and Harry had become surprisingly close for human and computer. Tony had always complained that JARVIS had a soft spot for Harry and would actually refer to him as Hadrian rather than Mr Potter-Black.

“ _Yes Hadrian?_ ” Was it just his imagination, or did JARVIS sound worried?

“Where is he? What happened?”

There was a pause and Harry thought he might throw up. “ _Sir’s convoy has been attacked. I am currently unable to identify his location._ ”

His next breath sounded a little closer to a sob. Unknown. Tony was _gone_. His convoy had been driving through enemy territory and had probably _been blown up_.

Harry took three proper breaths. He had three options. One, stay where he was and wait for news. Harry snorted semi hysterically at the very idea. Two, he could go to Afghanistan and find Tony himself. Three, he could fly to America and wait for Tony to come home. Because Tony wasn’t dead. Harry would know if he was dead.

Harry knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to get on the next plane to Afghanistan and scour the desert until Tony was safe. But his magic acted up at the very though, sending a deep wrong, wrong, _wrong_ message rushing through him. As much as it hurt, as much as it made Harry want to rage and rant and _destroy_ , Harry couldn’t ignore his magic.

“JARVIS, can you get me to Malibu?”

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter 1 for Notes. 
> 
> I tend to switch up the POVs a bit - I like writing both Harry and Tony, so they both get some screen time.   
> Enjoy.

_“We met once at a technical conference in Bern.”_

_“I don’t remember.” I had other things on my mind._

_“What do I call you?”_

_“My name is Yinsen.”_

_“Yinsen. Nice to meet you.”_

_“Got a family?”_

_“Yes, and I will see them when I leave here. And you, Stark?”_

_A pause, considering._

_“Nothing…no.” A lie. Harry._

_“No? So you’re a man who has everything and nothing.”_

_“Okay? Can you move? Okay, say it again.”_

_“41 steps straight ahead. Then 16 steps, that’s from the door, fork right, then 33 steps, turn right.” I’m coming home._

_“Come on. We got to go. Move for me, come on. We got a plan. We’re gonna stick to it.”_

_“This was always the plan, Stark.”_

_“Come on, you’re gonna go see your family. Get up.”_

_“My family is dead. I’m going to see them now, Stark. It’s okay. I want this. I want this.”_

_“Thank you for saving me.”_

_“Don’t waste it. Don’t waste your life.”_

_Yinsen dies._

_Tony pauses, thinking of Harry._

_“I won’t.”_

_The Iron Man mask slams down._

_“What happened over there?”_

_“I had my eyes opened.”_

Harry was pacing. He had been pacing since JARVIS told him Tony had landed. He paced through Tony’s conference, though the unexpected announcement. He’d seen how haunted Tony was, how his intelligent brown eyes were darkened by shadows and pain.

The resolution behind the announcement was firm. Tony had obviously seen truths that had cut deep. He’d also aged in a way. He didn’t look any older really, but he was world weary.

Twenty minutes later JARVIS had interrupted. “ _Sir has arrived home_.”

Harry had almost fallen over with the speed of his turn towards the front door.

Three months. Three months Harry had been here feeling _useless_ and unable to go and find Tony without his magic acting up. Harry knew what that meant, knew that Tony had to go through _whatever he went through_ and that he’d make it out the other side. His magic had never let him down before and Harry knew, even if he hated it, that some things just had to happen.

And now Tony was _here_.

“Relax Pepper, it’s fine.” Tony’s voice drifted through the door and Harry felt more elated, freer than he had since that text so long ago.

Harry watched as Tony looked up, watched his eyes widen with surprise, watched Tony take three steps forward but Harry was already running.

For the first time since London Tony’s arms were around him. Despite the time and the separation, the arms were just as sure, just as warm.

“Shh, shh Kitty cat, I’m here. I’m fine.” Tony was murmuring in his ear, hands holding his hip and his neck and that was when Harry noticed he was shaking. Shaking and crying like he almost never did but Tony was _right there_.

“I—I love you, you great big asshole.” Harry finally managed to get out before pulling back slowly.

Tony looked stunned, but so, _so_ _happy_. His eyes were sparkling and despite the cuts and bruises he looked like Harry had just made his year, his life. And then he smiled, the biggest, most genuine smile he had ever seen grace the geniuses face.

“I love you too, Harry.” Tony said, the smile turning into a stupefied grin. Harry instantly loved it.

A gasp came from behind Tony and the billionaire turned to reveal a red headed woman, easily taller than the both of them with her heels. Harry recognized her as Pepper Potts, the woman that basically ran SI for Tony.

Harry couldn’t help but blush. He tried to step back but Tony grabbed his waist with his uninjured arm.

Tony was smiling a lazy smile at his assistant who looked a curious mix between surprised and upset. Harry felt his face flush. Did Miss Potts even know Harry existed?

He needn’t have worried.

“You must be Hadrian! Tony was right, you look so good together! You poor thing, have you been dealing with this all alone for three months?” Pepper seemed honestly happy to see them together and mostly upset by the fact Harry had been hiding here by himself. Tony had obviously more than mentioned him if that reaction was anything to go by.

“JARVIS let me in, and he’s been keeping me company. He’s good at distractions.” That and providing holographic things to destroy with magic.

Pepper smiled brightly. “I’m sure we’ll have time to get to know one another. For now though, I’ll leave you two to get reacquainted. Tony, I’ll be by tomorrow to talk shop. Don’t pull any stitches loose.” Was the formidable woman’s final words before she left them alone.

Tony was staring at him, eyes sparkling. He looked tired with a hunch in his shoulders.

Also, now that Pepper had gone Harry could focus on the strange energy emanating from Tony’s chest. First things first however.

“Why don’t we go lie down.” Harry suggested. “I’m afraid I’ve been using your bed, but it smelt like you.” He finished, oddly shy.

Tony smiled, warm and sure. “That sounds absolutely amazing.” He murmured, and Harry smiled back.

 

 

 

Tony looked up as Harry made a little noise in his sleep before his face smoothed out once more. They were down in his workshop, Harry on the couch and Tony just finishing off the adjustments to his new arc reactor. Harry had been more exhausted than Tony had ever seen him, which was saying something as Tony had been technologically stalking Harry for close to three years by now. From what he could tell, the raven haired man had not slept properly since Tony had first disappeared.

The man looked adorable, curled up on Tony’s overpriced couch, his hair a mess and wearing one of Tony’s MIT hoodies. He couldn’t help but smile, still pinching himself on his luck.

When he’d first seen Harry, he’d immediately wanted the man. He was leaner than Tony in every way, shorter by about an inch. Hair that couldn’t decide whether it was a bird nest or sex hair stood up the colour of pitch and his _eyes_. Such a bright, vibrant green, unlike anything Tony had ever seen. They were sharp and observant and they matched the man. He’d stood like a fighter even though he couldn’t be older than Tony was. He was careful and protective of the woman he’d been with.

He’d been one of the first people to really turn down Tony Stark.

Tony hadn’t minded all that much, mollified by the disappointment easily visible in the man’s eyes. He’d moved on, but had never really forgotten Hadrian Potter-Black.

Then he’d seen the man again in Bern. Just as lean, just as brightly eyed. Tony had gotten closer that time, had seen Harry slump when he’d said no. And then Tony had wrangled a maybe from the elusive man.

It wasn’t until Happy had run into Harry with a literal bang almost two years later that Tony knew it was a sign. It had also been third time lucky. Having Harry underneath him, green eyes absolutely _glowing_ had been enough to convince him that Harry was perfect.

So he’d left the phone, and Tony had started technologically stalking Harry.

He watched him work, watched him go to library, watched him spend countless hours learning various martial arts styles. Tony didn't spend hours watching - he just liked being able to look up from what ever he was working on and knowing Harry as there. The other man had admitted his suspicion that Tony always knew where he was but hadn’t seemed to mind the creepiness, rather he liked knowing he wasn’t alone, much like Tony.

And then he’d fallen in love with a man he’d only physically met three times.

Pepper had first thought he was nuts. Rhodney said he’d believe it when he saw this mysterious person. Happy had taken a shine to the man, but that was nothing compared to JARVIS. Tony had never seen the AI take to someone so quickly in his entire existence, who actually addressed Harry by his first name.

The more they talked, the more Tony had unraveled the mystery surrounding the viridian eyed man. He’d been pissed at Harry’s terrible excuses for guardians. He’d lamented the fact Harry could barely remember his parents. He’d come to _know_ the man, despite what he was holding back.

It wasn’t until Harry had _finally_ talked about his invisible house that Tony got the whole picture.

Magic.

By that stage Tony had already been (though he would vehemently deny it) head over heels, so really, the challenge of figuring out this strange force was only a bonus. Tony could admit he’d been super dubious that something like magic could exist, but he knew Harry and for some reason it seemed to make sense. He didn’t like calling it magic, preferring matter manipulation or something else that at least _sounded_ science-y, but he went with it and wanted to find out more, just as he always did with unsolved puzzles.

Despite the final missing piece, Harry didn’t change in Tony’s mind. Despite the war he’d grown up in, the things he had seen, Tony had still loved him. In fact, he had been planning on flying to London for Harry’s birthday to sweep him off his feet, profess his undying love and drag him back to the States.

It hadn’t quite gone like that.

Hindsight was twenty-twenty, but if Harry ever turned into such a worried, clingy mess ever again, Tony knew it was time to change whatever plans he had made. It was like Harry had known what would happen in Afghanistan, except in a weird mystical something-will-happen-but-I-don’t-know-what way.

That was why he’d broken their rule and texted Harry his final words, sure that he was going to die from his own weapon in the middle of the afghan desert.

And then he’d arrived home and Harry had been there, waiting for him.

The man had looked exhausted, bruise like shadows underneath his eyes and appearing too thin. But he’d still run to Tony and said the words that he’d always wanted to hear from Harry. _I love you._ Even if they were followed by being called an asshole.

Tony had held him close, feeling the trembling and the relief that mirrored his own.

He’d wanted to throw Harry in his bed and have his way with him right then, but they were both falling asleep and there was still too much to say.

After Pepper had left Harry had led him to his own bedroom, helping him lose his top layer of clothes, his touch soothing and actually _magical_ in the way it healed his cuts and bruises. Then Harry had come to the reactor, surrounded by scar tissue and aching like it always did. His green-eyed kitten had frowned, but not with disgust like Tony had feared. Instead Harry’s magic (and damn that was still weird) had sprung forth through thin fingers, easing his ribs and his lungs and his damaged heart.

By the time Harry had finished they were lying in bed, Harry falling asleep from such an expenditure of his life magic and Tony just _breathing_ like he hadn’t been able to in months.

Harry had healed him so that the reactor was just as much a part of him as his heart or brain. The puckered tissue was smoother and looked years old. His lungs no longer rubbed at the reactor casing. His ribs no longer grated with each movement. His heart no longer stuttered.

Tony had spent hours just holding Harry close. He wouldn’t be wasting his second chance.

They’d moved down to the workshop just after seven, Harry still half asleep but understanding that Tony practically lived in his basement. He had settled on the couch that Tony had never used and when he’d looked up ten minutes later Harry had been fast asleep.

Three hours later Tony had his new arc reactor pretty much completed, JARVIS having sped the process up beyond anything Tony had achieved in that small, damp cave. Also, he’d been planning with JARVIS since the moment he’d gotten ahold of a mobile phone in Afghanistan, so that helped.

Pepper was upstairs, watching SI stocks crumble, which was perfect because she could come down to help so Harry could sleep.

JARVIS called her, the volume suitably low.

“Pepper. How big are your hands?” He asked quietly but with a slight smile, able to picture her confused face from there.

“What?”

“How big are your hands?” He asked again, placing the final touches on the replacement arc. It looked good.

Pepper still sounded confused. You would have thought she’d be used to these kind of things by now. “I don’t understand why…”

“Get down here. I need you.” And with those magic words Pepper was on her way.

He held the new arc carefully, sharp eyes checking the surfaces once more while JARVIS ran final scans. It was an improvement on the old, better and more efficient. Tony wished he didn’t need it at all, but as Harry had been healing him last night he’d whispered what he was doing, what he didn’t dare do due to lack of knowledge and training. The shrapnel was too close to too many delicate things.

Harry had explained his super awesome stick of death (well he called it a wand, but Tony refused to use the word) which lived in some strange pocket dimension these days (and yes, Tony was already working on figuring _that_ out) was more powerful than what he called through his hands, but the magic would be just so delicate that it was skill not power that was needed. Harry just didn’t have the medical and magical knowledge that was needed.

Pepper came into the workshop quietly, instantly seeing Harry asleep on the couch. Tony watched in fascination as the woman’s face softened. So it wasn’t just him that Harry did that to.

“Hey. Let’s see them.” He murmured quietly, not wanting to disturb his kitten. Tony was honestly surprised that his super fighter instincts hadn’t woken him up at all, but the man _had_ been truly exhausted. “Show me your hands. Let’s see them. Oh, wow. They are small. Very petite, indeed. I just need your help for a sec.” Harry could have potentially helped him out, but Pepper did indeed have smaller, thinner hands.

“Oh, my God.” His assistant was muttering, staring at the glowing object imbedded in his chest. “Is that the thing that’s keeping you alive?”

Tony wanted to reply with, _no that’s Harry_ , but deemed it far too sappy. “It was. It is now an antique. This is what will be keeping me alive for the foreseeable future. I’m swapping it up for an upgraded unit, and I just ran into a little speed bump.”

Peppers face became a mask of worry. “Speed bump, what does that mean?”

“It’s nothing. It’s just a little snag.” Tony didn’t want to mention that not only was his old reactor a piece of shit but also a reminder of being stuck in the cave. He pulled the glowing device out slowly, noticing how smooth the process was now that Harry had fixed a few things up. The raven-haired man hadn’t dared touch any of the technology, rather soothing the interfaces between man and machine. “There’s an exposed wire under this device and it’s contacting the socket wall and causing a little bit of a short. It’s fine.”

He handed the now junked piece to his assistant.

Pepper seemed slightly skeptical. “What do you want me to do?”

“Put that on the table over there. That is irrelevant.”

Pepper placed the reactor down ever so carefully. “Oh, my God.” She murmured seeming to realize she was not going to like this.

“I want you to reach in, and you’re just gonna gently lift the wire out.” He explained, trying to calm the slightly panicking woman.

“Is it safe?”

“Yeah, it should be fine. It’s like Operation. You just don’t let it touch the socket wall or it goes ‘beep’.”

“What do you mean, ‘Operation’?”

Tony almost rolled his eyes. He wouldn’t have pictured Pepper balking quite this much. “It’s just a game, never mind. Just gently lift out the wire, Okay? Great.”

Pepper put her hand into the cavity in his chest but just a quickly pulled it out. She cast a speculative look at Harry. “You know, I don’t think I’m qualified to do this. Why can’t Harry do it?”

Tony frowned slightly at the red head. “You have smaller hands.” What he didn’t say was he didn’t know how the bare reactor would react with Harry’s magic. Apparently it gave off an odd energy that was constantly calling Harry’s power out to play, and Tony knew from past conversations that electronics tended to explode when there was magic involved, so he’d decided not to risk it. He couldn’t ask Harry to do something the might lead him to accidentally injuring or killing Tony. Harry would never touch him again, which would be horrible.

“Okay, okay.” Pepper finally agreed, reaching inside once more. “Oh, there’s pus!” the exclamation was slightly louder than anything so far and Tony hoped Harry was still asleep.

“It’s not pus.” He tried to assure. “It’s an inorganic plasmic discharge from the device, not from my body.”

“It smells!”

Well that he couldn’t deny. “Yeah, it does. The copper wire. The copper wire, you got it?” Tony asked, trying to move Pepper along.

She nodded quickly. “Okay, I got it! I got it.”

“Okay, you got it? Now don’t let it touch the sides—” Motherfucker! “Ow.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Tony let it go. Pepper looked like she was about to pass out.

“Okay, now make sure that when you pull it out you don’t…There’s a magnet—” Too late.

Pepper had pulled the entire magnet loose and Tony watched the small piece of metal that kept him alive wave in front of his face. Harry was gonna kill him.

“Oh God!” Pepper looked even worse, obviously thinking she had just killed her boss. Which she kind of had. Eh, semantics.

“Okay I was not expecting…Don’t put it back in! Do not put it back in!”

Pepper seemed to take a deep breath at the sound of his voice. “Okay, what do I do?”

The heart rate monitor chose that time to go off, signaling his heart was struggling. He was not quite yet in cardiac arrest thanks to Harry’s fiddling, but it was a near thing.

The red head was looking for the source of the sound in horror. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, my hearts failing ‘cos you yanked it out like a trout.”

“What!? You said it was safe!” A small part of his genius mind was now certain that Harry was awake, because who could sleep through something that high pitched, but a larger part of his brain was focusing on not dying. “We gotta hurry. Take this. Take this.” He muttered, giving Pepper the new reactor. “You gotta switch it out really quick.” He was starting to feel pretty bad now.

“Okay, okay. It’ll be fine Tony, I’ll fix it.”

“Let’s hope. You’re gonna attach that to the base plate. Make sure you—” The reactor slid home easily despite the lack of final instruction. Tony felt his brow furrow until he looked up to find Harry sitting on the table behind Pepper, eyes bright in the darker part of the room. It seemed Pepper had some help.

“Are you okay?” The woman asked, her hand trembling ever so slightly.

Tony gave a reassuring smile, feeling his heart fall back into its natural rhythm. “Yeah, I feel great. You okay?” The look Pepper graced him with was enough to make him laugh out loud.

“Don’t ever, ever, ever, ever ask me to do anything like that ever again.” She demanded, looking around for something to wipe her hand on. It wasn’t until she turned right around that she noticed Harry watching outside their little light circle. Tony found the small scream she let out more amusing than he probably should have.

“Harry! You’re just as bad as he is! Why couldn’t you do that part?”

Harry grinned, before flicking his eyes to Tony. “My hands are too big.” Well that told Tony just how long Harry had been watching. He looked remarkably unflustered for the situation. Or he was good at faking it.

Pepper huffed with good humour now that the adrenalin was dying down. “Oh ha ha. You’re both hilarious.”

Harry just smiled an innocent ‘Who, me?’ smile before throwing Pepper a cloth.

Pepper grinned back before turning to hit Tony with a fake glare. “Will that be all, Mr Stark?”

Tony couldn’t control his grin. “That will be all, Miss Potts.”

“Thanks, Pepper.” Harry added.

Pepper gave them both mock glares before leaving the workshop, phone already coming out.

Tony took his time cleaning his chest up of the spots of plasma Pepper had left behind before looking up to sheepishly meet green eyes.

Harry was still sitting on the table, legs absently swinging but body taught and ready. The MIT hoodie was too big on him, almost falling off a shoulder. His sable hair stood up on one side, his faded scar on display on his forehead. His features, thinner than Tony had ever seen them, were defined and almost elfin. Despite what he’d just witnessed his lips were quirked in a half smile and his eyes were glittering with amusement, almost glowing with their intensity.

“For a genius you’re an idiot, you know.”

Tony couldn’t keep in the snort he loosed. This was absolutely surreal. He couldn’t believe that Harry was actually _here_ , that Tony wasn’t just looking at him through a screen. “Yeah, sometimes.” He agreed, sauntering over until he was standing between Harry’s legs.

Harry leaned his forehead against Tony’s, eyes still open. “Nothing’s going to change now that I’m here. Right?”

Tony didn’t look away. He knew what his kitten meant. It had been years since they’d been together, been physically closer that having the Atlantic between them. But Tony knew it didn’t matter. He’d never met another human being who understood him in the same way, who made him laugh and smile and who understood his semi-compulsive behaviour that led to long stints in his workshop where he didn’t eat or sleep. He’d never met another who could capture his attention, never met another who made him _want_ to find out every single thing just so he’d know the other better.

Harry was perfect and Tony would do everything he could to make sure that he spent the rest of his life with him.

“No, nothing is going to change. Except the sex part. I’m hoping there will be much more of that.”

Harry burst into laughter looking young and free and no longer so haunted. Tony smiled and just stood with him for a moment.

Soon enough though, Harry was somber again. “I wanted to come and find you.” The magical man admitted, eyes flickering down and away for a moment. “I almost jumped on the first plane to Afghanistan, but my magic… It was like you had to be there, even if it broke my heart.” He met his eyes once more.

Tony leaned in to press their lips together. “I’m sorry you were hurting, but I am so, _so_ glad that you didn’t come for me. If they had gotten ahold of you—” Tony had to stop himself as images flooded his mind of Harry being dunked repeatedly in water, of being beaten, sitting curled in a corner with blood on his face. He knew Harry could handle himself, but his imagination didn’t care.

Then the thoughts were gone, Harry’s lips a welcome distraction.

Harry’s eyes, vibrant and _green_ , held his gaze. “Next time, I’m coming for you.”

Tony could feel just how serious Harry was, feel that strange power hovering around him (wow, was that really magic?). Harry’s body was still tight and ready, deadly. Sometimes Tony forgot just how deadly his little love was. Forgot that he was actually a leopard rather than a little house cat.

Tony knew how he’d react if Harry went missing, knew how Harry must have felt for the three months he was missing.

“Okay.” He murmured, pulling Harry’s mouth back to his.

They didn’t really talk much more after that.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See first Chapter for Notes. 
> 
> A little bit more magic in this one. I've taken a few liberties, but overall I hope it reflects the feel of the Potterverse magic. 
> 
> Enjoy.

It didn’t take long for Tony to start building a new Iron Man suit. Harry was researching online for local dojo’s he could visit to keep himself occupied after things had calmed down (read, until he could leave Tony’s side for more than ten minutes). So while he lazed around on the couch, Tony called out to JARVIS and Dummy as he worked. Harry was surprisingly content with the rhythm they had easily fallen into.

 

“ _Index as Mark II._ ”

 

“ _Working on a secret project, are we, Sir?_ ”

 

“ _Not in the boot, Dummy. Right here._ ”

 

Harry almost dropped the laptop when Tony landed unexpectedly on the couch next to him three days after he had begun the Mark II.

“I didn’t notice last time just how comfortable this thing is.” Tony said with a bright, lecherous grin.

Harry was far past blushing at this stage, but he still felt a spike of heat at the tone. “You were rather distracted.” Harry agreed, carefully setting the computer aside.

Harry met his genius’ eyes, instantly curious as to what Tony wanted. The man had been working feverishly for days on his suit, stopping only for sex and showers, which were not always mutually exclusive. Harry had been bringing him food and the occasional bottle of water, perfectly content to just watch him work.

They were both calmer now. The longer Tony worked without Harry demanding he stop or sleep like a normal human the more relaxed he seemed to become. Similarly, the longer they spent together the more Harry realised that they just _worked_ together. They were similar enough that they always had something to talk about, but different enough that they wouldn’t grow bored.

It was relieving that nothing had really changed. Despite having technically carried on a relationship for years and knowing almost everything about the other, they had both been worried they wouldn’t actually work together. That would have been devastating.

Sitting here now, with Tony grinning at him like a child, Harry felt silly for worrying.

Tony slid over so he was closer, face earnest. Harry turned fully to face him, expecting something important but instead, “Will you show me some magic?” burst from Tony like he’d been holding himself back for days. Knowing Tony, he had.

Harry burst out laughing, causing Tony’s wide eyed pleading look to slide effortlessly back into a teasing grin. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask since that first night.” He admitted, laughter finally calming.

Tony’s eyes were bright and the smudges of grease on his face made him look adorable. “So, that’s a yes?”

Harry had always had a vague plan for introducing Tony to magic. Start small and work his way up. So instead of replying he conjured a wordless wandless _Lumos_.

Harry had not been idle on the magic front since the Separation. He spent a good few hours each day working his magic and mastering every spell he could without a wand. While he had access to the Death Stick, he felt as though relying on such a crutch could prove to be a monumental weakness, so he only brought that out for the big spells. It had been a supreme effort, those first few months, but he had persevered. After all, untrained muggleborns _technically_ cast wandlessly all the time.

These days he’d progressed from learning spells to simply telling his magic what he wanted. It was challenging but just as rewarding.

The light spell manifested in a glowing orb, a few shades lighter blue than Tony’s arc reactor. The billionaire was looking at it with awe, fierce intelligence shining brightly from his dark eyes as he mentally tried to solve this new puzzle.

Harry brought the orb down so it was hovering in front of them. “You can touch it, if you want. It shouldn’t really feel like anything. The air might be a bit warmer perhaps.”

Tony met his eyes once more, clearly checking his sincerity before proceeding in true Tony style. He reached up and stuck his hand right through the middle causing Harry to chuckle.

“JARVIS, are you getting this?” The man murmured, wonder clear. Harry knew he was smiling like a loon at Tony’s reaction, but couldn’t stop himself. It always shocked him that Tony could accept the magical part of Harry with such ease. The Dursleys certainly hadn’t.

“ _Of course, Sir. There seems to be a slightly higher level of radiation present, but it is so small that my scanners are having difficulty maintaining a reading._ ” Even JARVIS managed to sound enthralled.

“What about—” Tony began but Harry cut him off quickly.

“Don’t you want to see something better? I can always conjure the light for you later.” Harry bargained, eager to actually show off for once, his plan shot to pieces at the wonder on the other’s face.

The man seemed to be struggling with his ingrained need to _know_ how something worked, but eventually gave into his inner five year old. “Will you show me the leopard thing? I’ve wanted to see that since you mentioned magic and I remember you didn’t even _hesitate_ when I asked that animal questi—”

“Tony!” Harry burst out, placing a hand across the man’s mouth. “Of course I’ll show you.”

Tony whined theatrically when he got up, but Harry didn’t want to risk clawing the genius by accident. Harry let the change wash over him like water, relishing the shifting bones and the magic rushing through him. In less than a second Harry was sitting in his animagus form, fangs glinting as he yawned.

Tony was up in a flash and on his knees by the big cat in seconds. Harry felt clever fingers rub behind his ears and let loose a deep, rumbling purr.

Tony was babbling away. “Holy shit, this is the _coolest_ thing I have even seen. JARVIS, you got this, right? This is actually a real snow leopard sitting in my workshop? Wow Harry, this is _brilliant._ I really don’t know how you’re gonna beat this, I mean a leopard!”

Harry was happy to let Tony babble on. He was _excellent_ at scratching in just the right spot.

 

 

 

Tony was insatiable when it came to magic demonstrations. Harry spent most of his time showing off, practicing his dueling with JARVIS to improve his magic further, watching Tony or, as he had taken to, cooking meals. JARVIS had been quite supportive in that aspect as well, shopping online for Harry. He was secretly of the opinion that the AI found the process calming and was responsible for a great deal of the recipes to try.

Right then Harry was in a ‘watching Tony’ period. The genius was wearing the boots of his suit whilst holding the controls. Dummy was on standby with the fire extinguisher and You was filming. The floor had been cleared so Tony could finally work on flying.

Harry sat on a table slightly off to the side, partly there for moral support, mostly there to laugh when (not if) something went wrong. Tony had looked surprised for a moment when Harry had told him that, obviously not used to someone _wanting_ to be there for his achievements. Harry found it saddening that despite Tony’s parents being alive, they hadn’t given much time to their brilliant son.

“Okay, let’s do this right. Start mark, half a meter, and back and center. Dummy look alive, you’re on standby for fire safety. Harry, wipe that grin off and back him up. You, roll it.” Tony looked determined and focused as he took a deep breath before continuing. “Okay. Activate hand controls. We’re gonna start off nice and easy. We’re gonna see if ten percent thrust capacity achieves lift.”

Harry leant forward slightly. Tony had a habit of jumping into things without care on occasion, but ten percent sounded reasonable.

“And three, two, one.”

Harry had maybe half a second to cast a powerful cushioning charm on the wall and floor before Tony was going into the concrete face first. He landed on the ground with a small bounce due to the power of the charm and was still for all of one second before Dummy let loose with a volley of extinguisher gas.

Harry found that he couldn’t catch his breath from his laughter. He knew Tony was unhurt besides perhaps his pride, so Dummy’s contribution was priceless. Then to make it even better, JARVIS chose that moment to add his two cents.

“ _Perhaps ten percent was too much Sir_.”

Tony, hair white as though he had aged fifty years, joined in the ringing laughter, his smile wide and the most carefree Harry had seen since he’d come home from the cave in the desert.

 

 

 

Some days later Harry watched as Tony talked to Obadiah Stane upstairs. JARVIS had rather helpfully projected the view onto one of the downstairs screens.

The man set Harry on edge for reasons that he couldn’t pinpoint. It might have been to do with the fact that he’d never actually met the man, which was the reason he’d provided to Tony, but he had his doubts. He felt that he didn’t actually want to meet the man; His magic was telling him there was just _something_ not right.

It would be so much more helpful if his magic were a bit more specific.

He was still sitting on the table which he had mostly claimed, slumped with his chin in his hand when Tony returned, ditching the two pizza slices into the bin with an unhappy expression firmly fixed on his face.

Harry released his chin but didn’t move further as Tony stalked towards him, wrapping him firmly in warm, secure arms before he laid his chin on Harry’s head.

“I see what you mean.” Tony murmured, voice disappointed but resigned. Harry knew how much the admission must have cost. Obie was Tony’s Godfather.

“I’m sorry.” Harry whispered, feeling miserable that he had caused the rift.

“’S not your fault Obie is being a douche bag.”

Harry let the moment hang for a few seconds before asking a question he wished he didn’t have to. He could feel how upset the genius was, feel how he held on tighter than usual.

“What are you gonna do?”

Tony sighed explosively into his hair. “Keep an eye on it. Deal with it if it becomes a problem.”

They stayed like that for a while longer.

 

 

Tony was progressing in leaps and bounds with his suit production.

“Day eleven, test 37, configuration 2.0. For lack of a better option, Dummy is still on fire safety. If you douse me again, and I’m not on fire, I’m donating you to a city college.”

Harry had been asked to be on ‘fire watch’ but he’d quickly refused. Dummy had just looked so miserable to have his job taken away, so he’d of course said no. Really, it was surprising how upset the little AI could look given he was a robotic arm.

“All right, nice and easy. Seriously, just gonna start off with one percent thrust capacity. I saw that Harry.” Okay, so he was chuckling _just_ a little. “And three, two, one.”

The look of concentration on Tony’s face couldn’t quite mask the elation when the man _finally_ hovered in the air about a meter off the ground before touching back down. “Okay.” The man murmured, smile breaking out for just a second, a rare sight when he was in work mode. Harry applauded like a good audience and laughed when Dummy inched closer.

“Please don’t follow me around with it, ‘cos I feel like I’m gonna catch fire spontaneously.” The genius looked up at the still chuckling Harry. “Now I get it. You’re just trying to make Harry laugh! You’re supposed to be on my side!” The extinguisher was raised, somewhat threateningly. “Just stand down! If something happens, then come in.”

Tony looked up to Harry. “More?”

The answer was an easy, “Hell yes.” Harry would never stifle his genius’ creative genius.

“And again, bring it up to 2.5. Three, two, one.” Tony instantly flew up, hovering much higher this time. It was going well, until he started to drift towards his cars.

“Hey, you haven’t taken me out in one of them yet!” Harry exclaimed, half serious, half amused at the concealed panic on Tony’s face.

“Yeah, this is not where I wanna be! Not the car, not the car!” Unfortunately in avoiding the car, the genius careened towards a table. The one which Harry was sitting on.

Harry didn’t bother moving, knowing Tony would use his dubious safety as a way to get his ass into gear. The genius finally managed to get the hand controls working to help him control his movement, swinging back and landing where he had started with a slight thump.

Despite being slightly thruster-swept, Harry hadn’t been touched.

“We’re okay. Could have been worse, but it worked!” Tony babbled, quite pleased with himself if the look in his eyes was anything to go by.

Dummy raised the extinguisher hopefully, but sadly Tony was paying attention. “No! Ah ah ah! I’m not on fire!” The robot drooped playfully.

“Well, you can fly.” Harry was grinning widely, happy that Tony was happy with his success.

“Hell yeah, baby.” Tony replied with a smirk. “Celebratory sex?”

 

 

 

Tony was finally ready. The bots were putting his suit together and he couldn’t help the feelings of expectation. If this worked, Tony could finally change what was happening in the world around him. He could stop his weapons falling into the wrong hands, destroy them before they destroyed lives.

He could also keep Harry safe.

Tony was not stupid by any stretch of the imagination. He was cocky and arrogant, and unapologetic of the fact. He sucked at most human interactions unless it was the SI Board, media or some kind of gala due to his upbringing in front of the camera. He was compulsive at times and self-destructive at others, but he was _not_ stupid.

He’d heard whispers of mutants and of people with abilities beyond the norm. Bruce Banner was a notorious example of someone considered superhuman, what with that Harlem debacle. Hell, Captain America had been superhuman and that was in the forties. But these days, people weren’t so fond of what they didn’t understand.

Harry was part of a miniscule group of magicals that had remained after the separation. Of the handful remaining, Harry was the only one not locked away in a magically protected manor. Not only that, but Harry was with _him_. He was threatened by death threats and kidnapping attempts daily. Add that risk to Harry’s unique abilities…

Tony loved Harry, but he was selfish and he could admit it. If Harry wasn’t with Tony he would be so much less of a target, but Tony couldn’t let him go. But maybe now he could keep him safe. He would keep him safe politically and financially and now, with the suit, Harry might never have to fight again unless he _chose_ to.

Now to see if it worked.

He was encased in the suit, the bots having finished. Harry was upstairs making some kind of dessert that was finicky enough to keep him distracted. While the green-eyed man wouldn’t exactly disapprove of Tony’s plan in any obvious way (Harry just seemed to _get_ Tony needing to jump into things), he doubted that flying a mostly untested piece of equipment in the open sky would be looked upon with praise.

He took one last look at the little statue Harry had suggested Pepper to have commissioned, made using his old reactor. Hopefully Harry wouldn’t be _too_ mad. Or withhold sex.

“JARVIS, you there?”

 

 

 

Harry was almost done with his dessert when JARVIS sounded a warning.

“JARVIS?” He was instantly ready, eyes searching for anything strange.

“ _Please keep clear of the area surrounding the piano, Hadrian._ ”

“Huh?” Came his brilliant reply. The AI didn’t have time to respond as something fell through the roof, directly above said piano.

His hands went up to cover his ears as the piano sounded its death throes. “Shit! What the hell is that?” Harry just barely made out a suit of metal before it was falling _through_ the piano _and_ the floor below it.

Harry let out a loud sigh, rather unsurprised, before moving towards the hole.

“Still alive, Tony?”

The suit had stopped it’s decent on the floor below, right in the middle of the bright blue Cobra.

A groan was his only answer.

At least until Dummy started spraying extinguisher powder. Then it was mostly Tony swearing and Harry snickering.

 

 

 

Harry was feeling oddly proud of Tony. Despite his _You have to run before you walk_ moment, the suit was pretty much completed. In fact, the man was discussing final looks of all things.

While that was going on they were both watching the TV where a pretty woman was smiling for the camera in front of a red carpet.

_“Tonight’s red-hot carpet is right here at the Disney Concert Hall, where Tony Stark’s third annual benefit has become the place to be for L.A’s high society.”_

Tony had an arm wrapped around Harry’s shoulder as they snuggled together on the overpriced couch. The only reason the thing was still acceptable to sit on was because Harry was pretty decent at cleaning charms.

Tony was frowning heavily, pretty unhappy that he wasn’t aware of his own benefit. “JARVIS, we get an invite for that?” The billionaire asked, forehead crinkling further in thought.

_“I have no record of an invitation, Sir.”_ The AI replied. Harry frowned as well.

_“…hasn’t been seen in public since his bizarre and highly controversial press conference. Some claim he’s suffering from post-traumatic stress and has been bed-ridden for weeks. Whatever the cause may be, no one expects an appearance from him tonight.”_

Harry could see the moment that Tony took the statement as a challenge, eyes lighting with suspicion and thrill. Harry began to ask what the man planned, but was stopped by JARVIS.

_“The render is complete.”_

Both of them looked over at the render and Harry was surprised at the colour. The gold sent a wave of nostalgia through him. “It needs red.” He murmured, half to himself.

Tony was looking at him a bit oddly but didn’t disagree just yet.

“Not too ostentatious?” Tony asked JARVIS, sharp eyes taking in every detail of the model.

“ _Forgive us sir, you’re usually so discrete.”_

Harry sniggered a little. Sassy JARVIS was one of the best kinds.

Tony was smiling as well. “Alright then. Throw a little hot-rod red in there.” The changes were met with an approving hum. “I like it. Fabricate it. Paint it.”

“ _Commencing automated assembly. Estimated completion time is five hours._ ”

Harry gazed up at Tony again from where he was pressed against his side. “Are you gonna go to this benefit thing?”

Tony’s brow was furrowed as he thought things through. It did seem quite peculiar that Tony wasn’t invited to his own event. “Yeah, I think I need to shake things up a bit.”

Harry could see that Tony wanted him to go, to come out with him, but the controversy of Tony being accompanied by another man would no doubt run SI into the ground.

Then Harry had an idea. Hopefully Tony took this as well as everything else he had so far.

“Would you like a date? Someone named Helena perhaps?” Harry offered, using the alias he’d created just after the end of the war, tired of being bombarded at every opportunity.

Tony was looking a touch bewildered, obviously not understanding.

Extracting himself, Harry stood up before calling the Elder Wand to himself from its pocket dimension. That was another useful little find from the Black library.

Tony was still looking confused, but Harry persevered.

“Don’t interrupt, alright? This takes a lot of concentration to turn out properly.” He waited till Tony nodded before closing his eyes to concentrate. The second time he’d turned into Helena he’d gotten stuck, needing Hermione to help him. Human Transfiguration was dangerous just because so much could go wrong.

He pictured himself in his mind, pooling his magic into the Death Stick. Whilst Harry could _probably_ pull this off without the wand, the stick of elder would make it so much easier and would allow him to hold the transfiguration for close to 24 hours if necessary. He slowly mentally altered his features, picturing his mother as a reference point. He preferred to try and keep the transfiguration as realistic as possible, which would also help to avoid confusion with Tony. He felt his face change, his stature alter. He also altered his outside male appendages to female without changing his internal structure. He’d discovered _that_ the hard way on a previous occasion as well.

The final change was his hair, which grew out to a length that reached just past his shoulder blades in a mess of loose curls.

Harry, now _Helena_ , opened his eyes, blinking to clear them. For the umpteenth time he was happy he had taken the plunge and gotten his eyes corrected some years ago; glasses would not suit the face he had now.

Tony was sitting with his mouth wide open, utterly speechless. His eyes were flicking wildly between Harry’s changed body and features, which were obvious despite the MIT hoody he was wearing.

“Holy _Fuck_.” Tony breathed out, standing slowly. The man looked genuinely shocked, far more wide eyed than he usually looked when Harry demonstrated magic. It was brilliantly funny.

Helena did a little twirl, lips drawing up into a smirk that he had practiced in front of the mirror when trying the Transfiguration in Grimmauld Place.

“So, do you want me as your date? I promise I’ll behave.” His voice was higher but husky. Tony just blinked and Helena finally caved, laughter causing him to double over.

“Oh Merlin, you should see your face! If I didn’t know better, I’d say you like me better as a woman.” he managed to get out, still snickering. He even laughed at a higher pitch now, as disconcerting as it was.

Tony was smiling now, a sappy grin in place. “I’m glad you know me better then. Though you are a _smokin’ hot_ woman.” Tony had walked moved closer as he talked, finally reaching out to wrap Helena in his arms. “Still, holy fuck.”

Tony suddenly cleared his throat, stepping back with Helena’s hand still in his. Tony placed a gentle kiss on his knuckles (he never could shake mentally referring to himself as a male), before meeting his eyes. Harry hadn’t changed them as they were entirely his mother’s and therefore feminine at the best of times. “Helena was it?”

Helena who was still Harry nodded, lips quirked in a wry smile.

“My lovely _lady_ Helena. Will you accompany me to my benefit tonight so we can shove their _post-traumatic stress_ in their faces?”

Once again Harry laughed. He was feeling rather elated at the prospect of finally going out with Tony in public, finally being able to tell others to _back the hell off_ in some small way. “I would love to.”

“Don’t wait up for us, JARVIS.” Tony said, million watt smile blinding.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See first Chapter for Notes. 
> 
> Some new plot ideas here - It had to happen eventually, right?  
> Also, a little more swearing I think. That tends to happen when I write Tony. 
> 
> Enjoy.

When Harry had slowly morphed into the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, Tony had actually felt his mouth fall open. While he definitely preferred his green-eyed beauty as a male, he could certainly appreciate the figure Harry cut as a woman. What made the change most astonishing was that _Helena_ still looked like his Harry. It was almost as if he was looking at what Harry would have been if he was born female. He was still slim with proportionate curves, his hair still a mess that bordered on both sex hair and bird nest.

Tony had still been slightly speechless when _Helena_ had pranced up the stairs, telling Tony that he needed ten minutes to get ready. It had taken the genius an embarrassing amount of time to figure out that this meant magicking some clothes, and perhaps makeup, instead of wearing Tony’s MIT hoodie.

Eleven minutes later Tony was pacing the lounge in his suit, surprisingly nervous. This was the first time they would be seen together. The first time that Tony would actually take Harry on a date. Whilst he wished he’d had more time to organize something amazing, this seemed just right for the two of them, spontaneous and with the added bonus of annoying quite a few people.

It was also a nice compromise however – the media had a short memory, so if Harry and Tony ever decided to go public with their relationship, no one would remember a women Tony once took to an event.

Tony looked up as Harry, or rather _Helena_ , walked out wearing a gorgeous cocktail dress of deepest emerald. The dress was flattering but not over the top and actually suited Helena’s form perfectly. He wore no jewelry and only the barest hints of makeup but his hair had been tamed so that is was now firmly on the sex hair side of the fence.

Tony had to clear his throat before he could talk. His thoughts were running away from him, mostly idle ideas of what Harry would look like dressed in a perfectly tailored suit with a tie in the same shade of green. He could imagine Harry’s lean muscles straining against a slightly too tight shirt…

He cleared his throat again. “You look lovely, lady Helena.”

Harry/Helena was smirking at him knowingly and Tony had a brief thought that Harry was doing that creepy magic mind reading thing before realizing that he just knew him too well.

“And you are looking quite smashing. Do you think you can drive without drooling?”

And with that, Tony was also smirking. The lack of bullshit was just one of the reasons he loved Harry.

 

 

 

They drove quickly through the traffic, _Helena_ , as Tony was constantly reminding himself, laughing at the wind through his/her hair and the speed they were going. Helena had chosen Tony’s silver Audi Stark4 for their ride, though Tony was suspicious that it was only chosen because it was the genius’ favourite.

Tony was doing his best to make the ride one to remember, going much too fast for much too long. _Helena_ seemed to adore the thrill and Tony made it his personal mission to create a suit for Harry that wouldn’t react badly with his magic, even if only to let him experience the thrill of flight like he had in school.

They made it in only half the time it should have taken, both exhilarated and giddy with adrenaline. Tony was quick to get out and move around to open the door for _Helena_ (not Harry, don’t call him— _her_ Harry). While he didn’t often use them, he was raised with manners dammit, and he would hold the door open for his boyfriend. Girlfriend. Partner person.

Damn it.

_Helena_ stepped from the car as though she was born to be a car model, long legs contrasting strongly with the emerald of her dress. She easily took Tony’s hand but the spark of mischievous intent in her eyes was clear as day. Tony felt a smirk slip onto his face in response.

The Valet was quick to take the car, allowing Tony and _Helena_ to officially step onto the red carpet of the Disney Concert Hall. Lights were immediately flashing, all cameras turning in their direction. To make the situation even better, Obadiah had been in the middle of an interview when the presenter had seen Tony, abandoning the man for a better story.

He felt his public persona slide into place, noting that _Helena_ had done something similar as her smile became less vicious; instead it was quite bland. For a black haired male, _Helena_ did an excellent blond bimbo. Squeezing the hand that was on his arm gently Tony took a deep breath, actually looking forward to the dance he was about to begin. It had been too long.

“What’s the world coming to when a guy’s got to crash his own party?” Tony all but yelled, his voice carrying clearly throughout the flashing lights and flashing teeth.

Obadiah was quick. He was instantly moving forward, grin fake and eyes dark. Tony felt a brief pang of distress once more at the thought that Obie was somehow involved in everything that was going on in the background, but it was becoming far too obvious to ignore. _Helena_ gripped his arm just a touch harder. Tony entertained the thought of what would have happened if Harry’s finely tuned instincts hadn’t pinged the moment he’d laid eyes on Obadiah Stane. What would this path have led too?

Tony kept his face loose and happy, if not a bit dopey. Things always went smoother if they assumed Tony Stark had already had a few.

“Look at you. Hey, what a surprise.” Obadiah exclaimed, sounding off his game despite his best intentions. He cast a shrewd eye over _Helena_ before dismissing her. His mistake.

Normally he would have replied with something flippant, perhaps something witty, but he wasn’t feeling quite up to it. Instead he kept quiet, throwing Obadiah just a little more off.

“Hey. Listen, take it slow, alright? I think I got the board right where we want them.” The man continued, arms open and welcoming and just so, _so fake_. If his own instincts hadn’t stepped up, those of _Helena_ would have covered both of them. She had stiffened up against his side, stilling like a predator who had just spotted something it would dearly like to kill.

It was just a little bit wrong that Tony was _really_ turned on by _Helena’s_ reaction. The deadly woman in disguise thing was hot.

It also made it easier to act unchanged, as though his Godfather hadn’t just become the villain.

“You got it. Just cabin fever. I’ll just be a minute.”

Tony led _Helena_ inside, surprised when she flittered off towards Pepper as soon as he started towards the bar. The reason why was immediately apparent.

For a government person, the man was not particularly subtle.

“Give me a scotch.” He requested to the bar tender, planning on holding onto it for the rest of the night.

“Mr Stark?” The guy asked and Tony, senses on high alert due to a combination of _Helena_ leaving his field of vision and Obadiah’s subtle attack, immediately upgraded him from random bureaucrat to possible badass superspy. Most likely middle man however, as cool as superspy would be.

“Yeah?”

“Agent Coulson.”

Tony turned to face the man more fully, committing him to memory. He’d known he’d make a stir with his suit if he went public (which was totally inevitable knowing him), but this interest was more than he’d expected this early in the game. “Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. The guy from the…” Tony knew exactly where the guy was from, having been informed by Pepper that the guy was sniffing around. He wondered if they stuck with the long name so people would forget who they were talking to. Why else would they ignore the totally awesome fact that their initials spelt SHIELD?

“Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.” The Agent looked bored just having to say it.

“God, you need a new name for that.”

“Yeah, I hear that a lot.” The Agent’s mouth quirked briefly into a sardonic grin before settling. “Listen, I know this must be a trying time for you, but we need to debrief you. There’s still a lot of unanswered questions, and time can be a factor with these things.”

The guy was slick. It was a shame that everyone always forgot the fact that he had one of the highest IQs on earth and was not socially inept like Reed Richards. He’d escaped because he’s a genius. Duh.

Also, Howard was kind of a founding member of SHIELD. Technically Tony still kind of funded it.

Suddenly Pepper and _Helena_ were in his line of vision. Pepper had a few tension creases on her forehead but that was about it. Either _Helena_ hadn’t told Pepper who she actually was, or the woman needed another raise. He would personally bet on the later.

“Let’s just put something on the books.” Tony agreed, just to be rid of the man. He knew that would probably come back to bite him in the ass, but he could always ask Harry to kiss it better.

Thank God Harry didn’t hear that thought. He’d be denied awesome home cooking for a whole day for that cheesy line, which might actually lead to him begging.

Agent Coulson was looking at him shrewdly but agreed quickly. And efficiently. “How about the 24th at 7pm at Stark Industries?”

Okay, that was weird. “Tell you what. You got it. You’re absolutely right. Well, I’m going to go to my assistant and we’ll make a date.”

Moving fast enough to avoid anyone else, Tony made it over to Pepper and _Helena_ unmolested by further attention, making a note to actually tell Pepper at some point about the meeting.

“The dress is lovely by the way. I wasn’t sure what you would prefer and Tony can’t remember birthdays to save his life, so JARVIS suggested the voucher. They were helpful?” _Helena_ was keeping easy conversation with his assistant, looking very comfortable with an untouched champagne glass in hand.

“Thank you so much! I did wonder, because Mr Stark has yet to remember.” The two women shared a smile. Tony shuddered. He was so screwed. “They were very helpful. I’ll be going back again for sure.”

Tony decided now was the time to intervene, as _Helena’s_ smile was slowly starting to resemble a smirk. “I’m glad you like it. I hope it was expensive.”

“Well we each paid for half, so _very_.” His lovely partner replied, green eyes sparkling. Tony felt an eyebrow rise. They were both pretty rich, so that was one hell of a dress. Lucky _Helena_ could just magic up her own.

Tony swept a quick eye around the room, noting that the Agent had vanished before coming back to _Helena_. “Would you like to dance—” Before he had finished the sentence Tony noticed some very important things. _Helena’s_ raised eyebrow was telling him to use some manners. A man should ask a woman to dance first. The small quirk of _Helena’s_ lips was telling him that if he considered asking _Helena_ the same as asking a woman he was in deep shit. So, Tony did the only sane thing. “—Pepper?”

The woman in question looked instantly flustered, eyes moving to _Helena_ nervously. The little minx herself just looked self-satisfied, as though Tony was very well trained. And he was, because he got sex, food and Harry for being a good boy.

“Oh, no. Thank you, but no.” Pepper recovered herself well, and Tony added another digit to her bonus. He also couldn’t help pushing because he was a _little_ bit of an asshole on occasion.

“Come on. Am I making you uncomfortable?”

Pepper, after seeing _Helena_ smile a little at the dig played along. “No. No, I always forget to wear deodorant and dance with my boss in from of everyone that I work with and his b-girlfriend in a dress with no back.” And that was why Pepper was awesome.

“Alright then, _Helena_ will dance with me. Meet us on the roof in a minute?” Pepper was smiling now, but she nodded in agreement.

Tony was already pulling _Helena_ into his arms and moving off into an easy Waltz.

“You should be nicer to Pepper.” _Helena_ mused as they spun around the floor. The lights flashing as people took pictures brought out the strands of natural deep auburn in the longer than usual hair. Tony tried to think of if he’d ever noticed that in Harry’s hair. His mother had been a red head after all.

“Why? I could totally last a week without Pepper. I would have to walk around barefoot though, because I definitely need her to tie my shoelaces.”

_Helena_ laughed and Tony almost stopped breathing. It was still Harry’s laugh, if not a bit higher in pitch, but combined with the green eyes that sparkled with happiness created one of the most perfect things he had ever seen. Unable to resist further, Tony stopped dead in the middle of the dance floor and kissed _Helena_ dead on the mouth.

_Helena_ still tasted like Harry, still kissed like Harry, and if it wasn’t for the curves under his hands, Tony wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference with his eyes closed.

The kiss was not particularly scandalous, nor long in duration, but the entire room had noticed. Cameras flashed madly from the door where the paparazzi waited and Tony had to struggle not to look like a dopey fool when they finally separated.

“Perhaps some air.” _Helena_ suggested, looking just so beautiful that Tony really wanted Harry back so they could make-out in the back of the Audi.

Tony nodded, cleared his throat and replied. “Lead the way.”

 

 

 

Pepper was waiting on the roof for them to arrive. Harry had been pleasantly surprised when he’d seen Pepper as they’d first entered, admiring the way the woman could take anything thrown at her.

“You look lovely in a dress Harry. Unless Harry has a twin sister of course.” The woman had complemented, one eyebrow raised in question.

He’d simply smiled through the face of _Helena,_ agreeing to explain later in a more _private_ setting.

The red head had a dry martini in her hand, an olive disappearing into her mouth as they appeared.

“How was the dance?” She asked, smile quirking her lips into a pretty grin. He really did like Pepper.

Tony was still looking a little love struck but answered just as flippantly as Harry expected. “The dance was fine. The _kiss_ however…”

Harry laughed, so happy to be out with Tony despite everything going on around them. Despite the way he tried to ignore it, the adrenaline spike he got from knowing that danger surrounded them appealed to his inner adrenaline junkie, making the night that much better. Luckily Tony was a kindred spirit and craved the thrill just as he did.

Pepper was sighing in a way that said she expected nothing less. “Oh well. Hopefully I’ll be able to spin it so that everyone assumes you’ve been spending your time with Helena, was it? Instead of lying in bed with PTSD.” She paused for a moment before turning her eyes to the emerald green dress Harry/Helena was wearing. “I’ve decided I don’t really want to know at the moment.”

Harry couldn’t help the raised eyebrow. Pepper just smiled at the reaction. “Oh, I’m not saying I _never_ want to know, I just want a raincheck. I have a feeling this is just the beginning.”

Pepper was totally his favourite. Besides JARVIS maybe.

Tony was smiling, looking at his assistant with pride. “You Pepper, are a gem. We’re gonna head off now. Only came to cause a stir.”

Pepper was nodding sardonically. “I assumed that was the reason.”

They made it easily back downstairs, dropping Tony’s still full scotch at the bar. That proved to be a bad idea. Or, Harry later reflected, a blessing in disguise?

“Wow. Tony Stark. Fancy seeing you here.” A blonde said loudly, obviously a reporter. She glanced disdainfully at Helena for a moment before ignoring her. That was happening a lot tonight.

“Ah, Carrie?” Tony tried, obviously cursing their unlucky escape attempt.

“Christine.” The woman was quick to correct but not distracted in the slightest.

Tony nodded like he was a little tipsy, as expected from his bad boy persona that he had kept up over the years. “That’s right.”

“You have a lot of nerve showing up here tonight. Can I at least get a reaction from you?”

Harry/Helena couldn’t help but still slightly, stopping Tony from his immediate reaction of smartassery. This woman looked obviously disgusted. What had happened?

“A reaction to what?” Tony asked quietly, reaction at odds to his previous persona.

The woman paused for only a split second, obviously perceptive enough to notice the change. Her eyes flicked to Helena and back. “Your company’s involvement in this latest atrocity.”

Tony simply raised an eyebrow in a ‘go on’ gesture. Christine looked taken aback for a moment before following the un-vocalized order. “Is this what you call accountability?”

Tony took the pictures carefully, face slipping towards thunderous. Harry felt ill.

“It’s a town called Gulmira. Heard of it?”

Tony’s hand clenched around the photos.

He’d known that Stane was up to something, most likely something to do with Tony’s company, but double dealing hadn’t even occurred to him. Tony looked momentarily murderous, an expression Christine caught, before he schooled himself once more. “When were there taken?”

The blonde looked ever so slightly apologetic now. “Yesterday.”

“I didn’t approve any shipment.” Tony’s hand sought out Harry’s in distress.

“Well, your company did.”

Tony looked up and Harry felt a shiver at the anger in his lover’s eyes. He would be glad to never have those furious eyes on him, the eyes of the Merchant of Death.

“Well, I’m not my company.” Christine actually looked as though she believed him.

 

 

 

Harry slipped away quietly to retrieve the car, tipping the valet with some cash he’d swiped from Tony and driving to the edge of the red carpet. He watched as Stane admitted to double dealing, watched as Tony’s Godfather broke his heart before walking off looking satisfied.

Tony walked quickly to the car, settling into the passenger seat as Harry took off.

He wanted to reach over to hold Tony’s hand, but the car was taking most of his concentration. He’d had lessons and gotten his license, but that was about it.

It took about ten miles before the man was recovered enough to suggest pulling over so he could drive. Harry stepped out of the car, intending to move around the back to the passenger side but was forced to stop as Tony pushed him gently against the car boot.

The genius was pressed against his neck, breathing deeply and carefully. “Can you change back?”

Harry had been planning on waiting till they were home, but didn’t want to deny Tony the comfort. He looked around before casting a mild notice-me-not charm. He then transfigured his dress back into a t-shirt and track pants and his shoes back into the socks he had been wearing before allowing the magic holding him in a female form to slowly dissipate, leaving him feeling much more normal and much more male.

Harry reached his arms around Tony, holding him close.

“I’m going to go and destroy that shipment.” Tony murmured, shoulders hunching as though expecting a rebuff. Harry just stroked a hand through the genius’ short hair.

“Of course you are.” Harry agreed easily and Tony relaxed instantly. “You should always do what you think is best. If it’s a stupid idea, I’ll let you know before you decide to do it anyway, okay?”

Tony kissed him, warm and desperate. “I love you, Kitty cat.” The endearment warmed Harry enough to force a smile out of him.

“And I love you. Come on, we need to go plan an illegal attack on foreign soil in a designated no fly zone.”

Tony laughed, the last of the cold fury fading from his eyes, returning to perfectly righteous but warmer anger. “I love it when you talk illegal.”

Harry just kissed him again.

 

 

 

Harry was keeping busy while Tony flew across the ocean to Gulmira. It was the first time they had truly separated since Tony had arrived home.

He was replacing the glass paneling that Tony had destroyed during his testing, adding extra enchantments to the panes as he went. As he added each new spell he explained it to JARVIS in as much detail as he could, distraction as much as education.

“—so everyone will see what they expect to see. Within reason of course.” He finished, watching in satisfaction as the blue glow of the enchantment settled back to invisibility.

“ _A most interesting effect. What if one were to look through a viewfinder such as that on a camera while looking through the glass?_ ” The AI asked, sounding honestly curious.

“It’s designed to effect mental perception, so depending on their distance away from the glass, the magic would still work as intended, no matter what the image was displaying. The effect decreases the further away you get though.”

JARVIS hummed in understanding but didn’t comment further. He was obviously perceptive enough to see that Harry was no longer thinking about the glass.

Harry had just caught his reflection in the now repaired surface. He saw his reflection frequently due to Tony’s obsession with shiny things but seeing his full body brought him up short, allowing him to entertain thoughts he’d been actively avoiding for weeks.

Looking back at him was the same face he’d had since he’d turned twenty-one. For the first five years he’d ignored it, knowing that age would affect him differently to non magicals. But now, he was theoretically twenty-eight years old and he still looked closer to twenty than he did twenty-five, let alone thirty. He had no new lines on his face, nor any other traditional sign of aging.

And it wasn’t just him. Tony looked exactly as he had when they’d finally been together in London all those years ago. While Harry could theoretically discount his lack of aging due to magic, Tony had no such excuse. The man was compulsive and had little regard for his health and should at the very least be showing age through small extra lines on his face.

Add that to a strange little moment he hadn’t really noticed right away when talking with Christine. Harry had mentally called Tony the Merchant of Death and his magic had sung beneath his skin at what it took as an endearment.

Tony disliked the term just as much as Harry disliked being referred to as the Master of Death. But Harry had noticed that his magic liked Master of Death as much as it liked Merchant of Death.

Harry was fairly certain he and Tony were not aging. He was also fairly certain it was his fault.

“No one can master Death.” He told his reflection. Thankfully JARVIS didn’t reply to his obscure statement.

His reflection on the other hand just smiled briefly for settling back into its normal mirror like appearance.

That was _not_ a good sign.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See first Chapter for Notes. 
> 
> An explanation regarding the plot, which remains per Iron Man 1.   
> When I started writing this, I thought about the effects magic could have in the Marvel universe, and quickly came to the conclusion that those flapping butterfly wings would utterly change the direction of the universe if I got ahead of myself. While that would have been an interesting adventure, the likelihood of me finishing a story like that is appallingly low. Hence, following an existing plot line where possible.   
> That being said, with three quarters of the second Iron Man completed some changes are already emerging. Nothing major, because I'll never make it to the Avengers movie otherwise, but enough I think to keep it interesting. 
> 
> So, the plot will continue to mirror the Iron Man movies in terms of major items for my own benefit - otherwise, I'll never get to play in the Avengers playground. 
> 
> A little drama in this one - note the tags if concerned (or lack of tags, as it is in this instance). 
> 
> Enjoy.

Harry had been slightly pissed that Tony had bullet holes in his suit.

Harry had clarified that he wasn’t annoyed that Rhodey hadn’t called off the fighters or that the pilots had shot at him to start with. It wasn’t their job to pander to Tony after all.

No, Harry was pissed with Tony because he’d thought that little things like _bullets_ wouldn’t get though the state of the art suit.

Tony supposed he could see where Harry was coming from. Thus didn’t argue as Harry just watched as he and JARVIS struggled with the suit. Harry’s nimble fingers would have made the process much faster, but Tony accepted his brief punishment.

“ _It is a tight fit Sir._ ” The AI was saying as in the corner of his eye he saw Harry trying not to smile. Obviously Harry’s anger had been fleeting and with punishment served, he was happy to watch the show.

JARVIS was playing it up further with his little comments as they struggled to free him. “ _Sir, the more you struggle, the more this is going to hurt._ ”

Tony smiled as well. JARVIS had the best sense of humour and Harry didn’t even look like he was pretending to be stern anymore. In fact, he had a hand over his mouth to hide a smile.

Tony grinned in response to Harry’s happiness and amusement. He’d noticed as soon as he got home that Harry had been unhappy and lost in thought. At least until he’d noticed the small holes in the armor's outer layer. Then it was mostly _are they fucking bullet holes? Tony! I thought you said it could handle tanks!_ Which was fair, he supposed.

Tony would chat with Harry about his melancholy after he was out of the god damned suit.

To add to the humour of the situation, Tony played along. “Be gentle, JARVIS. This is my first time.” Harry laughed out loud in reaction, his beautiful laugh echoing through the room.

God, he was such a sap.

JARVIS tried to remove another panel with little success.

“I did design this to come off, so…Ow.” Alright so that hurt. “Hey…I really should be able to…”

“ _Please, try not to move, Sir_.” JARVIS asked once more, this time a little more serious. Harry, still chuckling, finally stood up to help but Pepper chose that moment to enter through the newly enchanted glass door.

“What is going on here?” She asked with her arms full of papers so sign, looking incredulously at the suit dismantling rig that that was _really_ not working how he’d intended, before looking over to Harry as though he was a more reliable source of information.

Harry’s smile didn’t waver. “Surely you’ve caught him doing worse?”

This time it was Tony who burst into laughter, Pepper watching on as though they were insane.

They were only _slightly_ crazy. Really.

 

 

 

After Tony was free of the suit and Pepper had left once more with all papers signed, he and Harry moved up to the bedroom. They lay in the bed together, Tony on his back with Harry using his chest to pillow his head.

Tony waited patiently, running his hands carefully through Harry’s deceptively soft hair. He had a vague idea what this was related to; JARVIS had divulged Harry’s conversation with his reflection earlier as well as the curious instance of Harry’s reflection smiling at him. Weird, but cool.

Tony knew that Harry was greatly put out by the whole ‘Deathly Hallows’ thing. Every few years he’d try and throw away the stone or snap the wand with no success.

Harry remained quiet so Tony turned his not so inconsiderable intellect to the problem. Harry had been looking at his reflection and was now avoiding the problem. Harry was not one to avoid anything unless he thought it would affect Tony. Therefore, Harry was worried that something to do with the Hallows was going to affect him.

Tony tried to think of anything that had changed recently, beyond the glowing light in his chest that really had nothing to do with Harry at all. He couldn’t think of anything in particular. He wasn’t even looking too bad for twenty-eight.

Huh.

Never let it be said that Tony was not a genius.

Instantly he was going over the last few years, focusing specifically on the time before Afghanistan. He knew what he looked like, having seen his face enough in the tabloids. He knew his lines and curves. And now he considered it, they hadn’t exactly changed since…

“London.” He murmured out loud and could have cursed when Harry stiffened in his arms. He didn’t stop his gentle hair patting, hoping Harry would talk now that the figurative cat was out of the bag.

“Sometimes you make it too easy to forget just how clever you are.” His kitty cat was murmuring into his chest. “And then you go and work something like that out with the tiniest little clue.”

Tony waited another moment before prompting Harry further. “Talk to me, Baby.”

Harry pulled away slightly so that he was supporting himself on an elbow and looking Tony in the eyes. “I’ve been avoiding thinking about it.” The green eyed man admitted, sounding _ashamed_. “I thought I was just aging slowly, because of my magic, but then I thought about it properly. I noticed when you were giving that press conference that you looked just as I remembered, but I couldn’t understand _why_ when it had been a few years and you aren’t exactly nice to your body with the hours you keep and—”

Just as Tony was about to step in to stop the rambling Harry caught himself, looking down and away and biting his bottom lip in a nervous gesture that Tony had only seen twice before.

Tony gave in to the urge to reach over, running fingers through sable locks once more. Harry looked back up at him, eyes big and green.

“I love you Hadrian.” Tony assured him calmly. If he was correct in his, rather wild, assumption, then he could freak out later. It was obvious that Harry had no idea this would happen, no idea this _could_ happen.

“I love you too.” Harry affirmed in a tiny little voice. “I haven’t aged since I turned twenty-one. I think you stopped aging when we met in London.”

He’d _so_ been hoping he was wrong. Sure, he didn’t want to die young, but this was sounding worryingly permanent. He was also firmly on the ‘eternal life was a curse’ side of the fence.

Again, it was lucky he was a genius. He could totally work this out rationally. “We shouldn’t jump to conclusions. I thought the same thing, but we’re only twenty-eight. Plus, even though it’s an aging thing, it might not be an injury slash death thing.”

Harry looked partially relieved, partially even more worried than before. Tony just raised an eyebrow. “I—” Harry began before changing his mind halfway. “It’s at the least an injury thing. You weren’t hurt at all after you were out of your suit and you should have at least had some bruises. Plus I—I tested it earlier.”

Tony could see why Harry would think him upset now. He was holding out his hand palm-up, exposing a very faint white line that ran from corner to corner of his palm at a length of about three inches. “Harry…” He couldn’t help but murmur.

“I know. But I had to see. I could have healed it with magic if I was wrong.”

“That doesn’t mean I like knowing you were hurt.” He made sure Harry saw the sincerity in his eyes before pushing further. “What were you going to say first? You changed your mind.”

Once again Harry’s viridian eyes were averted for a moment. When he met Tony’s gaze again a glimmer of stubbornness was visible. “I want to check first, before I tell you. Will you wait? Just a few days. Maybe a week?”

Tony kept eye contact this time by stilling his fingers and gently gripping some of the feather soft hair to show how serious he was. “Will it involve you being hurt in _any_ way? Because if it does then the answer is no.”

Harry was shaking his head gently and dislodging Tony’s careful fingers before he had even finished and the genius could see he wasn’t lying. They both knew what the other looked like when lying and they had both sworn to avoid it if at all possible. Their relationship was build on communication - lying would almost be a betrayal of that. 

“Okay.” He said simply, trusting Harry to tell him. It was something Tony was sure he wouldn’t like. He could see that Harry didn’t like it much more. No wonder he wanted to check first.

“Thank you, Tony. I _will_ tell you.”

“I know you will, Baby.” With that, Tony pulled his little love down so that they were once more resting comfortably. “We’ll come back to this discussion another time, hmm? Once we’ve dealt with _my_ current problems.”

“Once we’ve dealt with _our_ current problems.” Harry murmured, and suddenly everything was just that little bit better.

 

 

 

The next morning dawned quicker than either of them wanted. They were both ignoring last night’s conversation for the time being; Stane was by far a more urgent problem.

“I can’t go in myself because of the injunction. I don’t really want to have Pepper near Stane either, but we can’t find the weapons unless we get the shipping manifests.” Tony was explaining as they entered the lab.

Harry sat on their couch, hand on his chin in thought. “I could go, but I’m not sure I could get into the system without setting anything off.” Harry’s lips quirked in amusement and Tony grinned. Harry could operate his phone and the basics of his laptop but he wasn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, tech savvy. “I could also potentially shadow her. As long as Pepper knows I’m following I could keep close with the invisibility cloak.”

Tony was also frowning in thought now. “I could theoretically hack the system. With JARVIS’ help I could probably get through in about an hour. But if I mess up, it’s a jail thing, despite the company being mine.”

Harry was getting a bad feeling all round about the entire situation, so planning was proving difficult. What if it all went wrong? Stane had already proved his morals were barely existent.

“Pepper has permission to be in the system accessing those files. I think that option is still safer.” Harry tried, sounding each word out carefully.

They eyed each other, both unsure. “If we _tell_ Pepper, just a bit, then she’ll know how dangerous it is and she can decide for herself.” Tony ventured, his words just as careful. 

Harry just couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was about to go completely wrong. He felt as though Pepper would be alright, so that wasn’t an issue, but everything else about the situation _screamed_ danger.

Tony sat down next to him, pulling him close under his arm. “You’ve got one of those ‘this-is-gonna-go-really-badly-one-way-or-another’ feelings, don’t you?”

Harry couldn’t help the quirk of his lips. “Something like that. Pepper should be fine though.”

 

 

 

In the end, they went with Pepper going in alone. Harry didn’t feel as though she would be in _serious_ danger and when Tony explained the basics of the situation to her, Pepper was adamant that she assist in some way.

Then came the waiting.

Tony was pacing the middle of the room, phone in hand, muttering to himself and gesturing wildly to JARVIS as they tried to find out who might have his weapons and where they were most likely stashed before they got the manifests. Harry was completely opposite, tense, still and silent, but coiled so tightly his shoulders had to hurt. He was seated in the corner of the room farthest from the door, gaze sharp and focused on the entrance.

Every few minutes Tony would detour by Harry, reaching out to stroke a hand through dark hair or run fingers across his face. The more time passed, the more Tony would touch Harry in some way. Harry didn’t seem to mind but didn’t move to reciprocate.

Finally the phone rang. Then everything went to shit.

Tony felt his limbs seize, heard Pepper asking if he was there but couldn’t move to answer her. JARVIS wasn’t responding to the threat to the household as he should be, meaning Stane had somehow disabled his ability to interfere.

Because who else could it be but Obadiah.

The worst part, worse than JARVIS being compromised or Stane paralyzing him or underestimating the seriousness of the whole damn situation was the noise Harry made.

Harry loosed a gasping whimper before Tony heard him fall to the floor. Even above Stane talking to him and dropping him carefully to the couch and the buzzing in his ears, he could hear Harry gasping for breath, each wheeze sounding harder that the last.

Then Stane turned Tony’s head to face him. “Tony.” Stane said, frowning when he realised Tony hadn’t been paying attention. “When I ordered the hit on you, I worried that I was killing the golden goose. But, you see, it was just fate that you survived. You had one last golden egg to give.”

Tony tried to listen, tried to summon some righteous anger, but Harry was overtaking his thoughts. The wizard sounded as though he were _dying_.

Stane glanced briefly over to the corner when Harry lay, small and crumpled with his face towards the wall. “It seems the girl is in the two percent that react _badly_ to short-term paralysis.” Stane mused, obviously connecting Harry to Helena.

“But really, it’s yourself you should be concerned with.”

With that, Stane removed the arc reactor with agonizing slowness. “Do you really think that just because you have an idea, it belongs to you? Your father, he helped give us the atomic bomb.” The older man monologued. “Now, what kind of world would it be today if he was as selfish as you?”

The arc reactor was disconnected and Tony felt his heart stutter.

He couldn’t hear Harry breathing anymore.

Stane wasn’t paying Tony the slightest bit of attention beyond using his as a captive audience. “Oh, it’s beautiful. Tony, this is your Ninth Symphony. What a masterpiece. Look at that. This is your Legacy. A new generation of weapons with this at its heart. Weapons that will help steer the world back on course, put the balance of power in our hands. The right hands.”

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Tony noticed he could see his spare reactor sitting on the steps that lead down to the workshop. Stane wouldn’t notice it unless he were to walk down there. How had that got there? His brain felt like it were moving through sludge, it was so hard to concentrate.

“I wish you could see my prototype. It’s not as… Well, not as conservative as yours. Too bad you had to involve other people in this. Your girl stopped breathing a little while ago and you’ve involved Pepper as well. I would have preferred she lived.”

Tony felt as though _he_ had stopped breathing when Stane said that. The man was standing, moving up and away towards the door until Tony couldn’t see him anymore. The paralysis was starting to wear off and Tony _knew_ he should be going for that spare reactor that Harry had obviously summoned but Stane had said Harry wasn’t _breathing_.

He forced his body into movement, crawling at an agonizing pace towards Harry. He was so small, laying on the carpet like that and Tony hadn’t realised how much energy the wizard gave off till it was missing.

“Harry.” He gasped, breathing hard and fast but Harry wasn’t moving. Tony was panicking, he knew he was, but this wasn’t meant to happen. He was meant to keep Harry safe, but something _he had invented_ had killed him.

“Hadrian!” Tony tried again, reaching out desperately despite his aching chest and stuttering heart and _oh god please no please_ —

Harry’s eyes were closed, his lips slightly blue. Tony couldn’t tell if that was because of the paralysis effects or because he was oxygen starved. But he wasn’t breathing and Tony couldn’t feel a pulse.

Rage was hot and quick to build, blocking the pain that dug into his heart like a serrated knife. Stane had done this, had _murdered_ the other half of his _soul_.

Tony was going to tear him apart.

Numbly he moved back, struggling towards the spare reactor; Harry’s last gift to him. It slipped into the hole in his chest with a click and hiss but Tony still felt empty.

He moved back to Harry, his beautiful Hadrian who was still and his hand was starting to cool and his brilliant green eyes were closed.

Tony sat next to him, knowing he needed to go after Stane but not able to leave.

But then something changed.

Harry’s chest moved.

Tony jerked forward as though pulled by strings, one hand going to the steadily moving chest and the other tilting Harry head up. “Harry? Harry, Baby, please open your eyes. For me, Hadrian, please.”

A pause then, “Tony.” Harry breathed, so faintly that Tony thought he was hallucinating.

Tony felt like crying. He pulled the smaller man up to his chest, pushing a desperate kiss to Harry’s forehead. His bright, _brilliant_ green eyes opened.

Tony, who could think about several things at once, was mostly thinking _Hadrian was alive_. He was also terrified because Harry had been _dead_ and now he wasn’t and holy shit it was _definitely_ a death thing and he did _not_ want to live forever. But at the same time he would live forever if it meant that Harry wouldn’t die either. He was also considering how best to utterly decimate Stane, because even though he wasn’t dead anymore, Stane had killed Harry. And that shit would not fly. Finally, he was now much more worried than he’d been before, because Harry was that much more interesting and Tony couldn’t help but picture his Kitty Cat stuck in a government facility, being experimented on and unable to die. The thought made him feel ill.

Harry’s eyes were sharp and focused on Tony, his lips no longer blue and he was so _warm_. His magic filled the room around them, comforting but powerful and so obvious now that Tony knew the difference.

“Tony.” Harry murmured, sharp gaze dropping to the old reactor and his gentle fingers reaching out for the smooth surface. “He tried to kill you.”

Tony laughed slightly hysterically. “Yeah. But he _actually_ killed you.”

Harry’s eyes flickered up and away for a moment before settling back. “Huh. So that did happen.” The words were blasé but the wizard’s expression was anything but. Harry’s eyes were _furious_ and he was trying to get up, but Tony didn’t want to let go.

And of course, that’s when Rhodey burst in.

“Tony? Tony!” The man sounded honestly worried and Tony decided to forgive him for being such an ass up until that point.

It also brought back into focus their most pressing concern.

“I know I said you could have a week, but I can’t wait that long.” Tony said seriously.

Harry nodded, still angry but resigned and unhappy all at one. “When we get home.”

Tony kissed Harry hard, all his fear and worry and fury poured in. When he pulled away Harry met his gaze steadily. Only then did he turn to Rhodey who was looking at Harry in shock.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, both Harry and Tony couldn’t help but smile when Rhodey managed a sentence. “You’re the phone guy! Holy shit, I though Tony was lying!”

Carefully Tony helped Harry up, holding him close to make sure he was steady. For someone who had just died, Harry was remarkably unaffected physically however, so Tony turned back to Rhodey.

“Where’s Pepper?”

Rhodey looked away from Harry for a half second to answer. “She’s fine. She’s with five agents. They’re about to arrest Obadiah.”

Tony frowned. “That’s not going to be enough.”

 

 

 

Rhodey was impressed by the suit. “That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Harry honestly wasn’t surprised. It _was_ the coolest thing ever, after all.

Tony was fully encased by the latest Iron Man suit, the gold and red giving Harry a brief flash of nostalgia once again.

Rhodey was watching carefully, the crease between his eyebrows betraying his concern. “You need me to do anything else?”

The faceplate popped up and Tony’s dark eyes flickered to Rhodey before moving back to Harry. “Keep the skies clear.”

The other man was quick to nod before leaving them to it, no doubt off the let the Airforce know something major was about to happen and perceptive enough to know Harry and Tony wanted to speak to one another.

Tony moved closer, his steps heavy and clanging. He was gentle however, when he reached an armored hand out to brush through Harry’s hair as he was prone to do. “You scared the shit out of me.” Tony admitted, leaning down to rest his forehead against Harry’s. “Please try not to do that again.”

Harry couldn’t stop his lips from quirking up. “No promises.”

Neither of them could promise to stay safe. Neither of them were the kind to sit back and let others deal with problems, compounded as they were also both adrenaline junkies who loved a thrill.

“I can try to be careful though, if you will be too.” Harry spoke softly, hands reaching up to wrap around the edge of the suit’s chest piece.

Tony’s smiled, a real half smile that made his face brighter despite his lingering anger and worry. “I’ll try. It’s not like we can die, right?”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Don’t test that out just yet, thanks.”

Tony leaned further down to press their lips together. “So you’ll stay back unless someone is in danger or I’m losing. Which won’t happen because I’m awesome.”

Any lingering tension was dispelled and Harry laughed. “I’ll stay back unless I’m needed. And I’ll try and stay hidden regardless.” It was slightly grating to have to hide, but Harry knew what could happen if people got wind of what he could do. Magic was kept secret for a reason.

“Love you.” Tony murmured, kissing him again.

“Love you too.”

With that Iron Man was gone.

“Right.” Harry said, clapping his hands together and speaking directly to Dummy who had appeared at his side. “Time to kick some ass. And don't tell your Dad I said a bad word in front of you."

The little AI just chirped happily.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See first Chapter for Notes. 
> 
> The final chapter of this one.   
> As mentioned, there is a second coming for this series. It is currently around three quarters complete; As such there will be a delay in posting it until I have finished, just to be sure it will be finished. 
> 
> Per the movie, Nick Fury does briefly appear. I've always found that scene a little strange in the movie (given that they seem to kind of ignore it in the next?), but it does lead to some of the changes in the second installment of my version, so I've kept it in there. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Pepper was just running from the factory, breathless and on the phone yelling at Tony when Harry appeared, having apparated to a point just around the corner.

So much for his plan to hang back.

“Pepper!” Harry yelled just as Stane rose up behind her.

“Where do you think you’re going? Your services are no longer required.” Stane was saying. Did the man not realise that he sounded ridiculous? Why did bad guys _always_ monologue or insist on saying something witty but ultimately pointless?

Harry grabbed Pepper and pulled her away from Stane’s shots. He was about to turn around and blast the man himself when Tony turned up.

“Stane!” Iron Man yelled, obvious and so surprising that Stane couldn’t help but go after him.

Harry watched them go before turning to Pepper. “You need to get out. Don’t hang around; get as far away as you can, okay?”

Pepper was wide eyed but otherwise hiding her feelings well. “What about you? Are you both alright? Obadiah went after you, didn’t he?”

“We’re fine. Now we’ve just got to keep it that way.” Harry assured, not wanting to get into it right now.

“Are you coming with me?” Pepper looked so concerned for Harry. Pepper was amazing.

Harry smiled, nice and wide. “I can take care of myself.” He assured.

Pepper nodded with a tiny smile in reply. “I believe you.” She admitted, surprising Harry with a quick hug before leaving as quickly as her heels would allow.

Harry cast a strong Disillusionment Charm so he appeared to only be a shimmer in the light before disapparating, concentrating on the tracking charm he’d applied to the suit as Tony had flown off. He reappeared instantly at the site of the fight between Iron Man and Stane, just in time to see Stane pick up a motorbike and swing it towards Tony.

He splayed his fingers, murmuring a cushioning charm just as the bike impacted Iron Man. He kept the spell up as Stane then proceeded to kick Tony’s ass. While he was fairly certain the suit could take the hits, there was no point risking serious injury this early in the game.

Once again Stane was chatting away, obviously trying to get years of pent up frustration at not being supreme overlord out in one day. Harry had to roll his eyes. Tom Riddle had been the same.

Tony had seemingly had enough of being thrown around and took off into the air, and of course Stane couldn’t help himself but to attempt to be witty. Harry could just hear him from where he stood on the edge of the road.

“I’ve made some upgrades of my own!”

Harry wore a sneer worthy of a Malfoy. How had he managed to keep his double dealing to himself for so long? Harry was surprised he hadn’t blabbed just to show off.

Tony took off, shooting high and fast towards the sky with Stane following. The only problem was that Tony was using the old reactor. Would that be able to hold up?

After making sure none of the public were trapped in any cars or too seriously injured Harry apparated back to the roof of Stark Industries. It was pretty private and owned by Tony, so logically this was where he’d lead Stane.

Barely two minutes later Tony was landing in front of him and Harry removed the Disillusionment Charm.

Tony looked up briefly. “I’m almost out of power. I’ve got to get out of the suit.”

The faceplate started to rise and Tony removed one of his gloves just as Harry saw Stane behind him.

“Tony!” He called, crouching and shielding himself as Stane missed the first swing but not his second, sending Tony flying over him.

He apparated away so he was behind the hulking suit and watched Tony reengage with one glove missing. Harry was reluctant to join the fray. This was between Tony and Stane and he really didn’t want to interfere unless it was necessary. Unfortunately, it was looking fairly unavoidable.

It quickly became obvious that Tony, while technologically more advanced in his suit, lacked power and brute force. In a fair fight, Tony would have wiped the floor with Stane, but this reactor was just not meant for sustained use in the suit as well as keeping Tony alive.

Harry pulled out the phone he’s swiped from Pepper, his own nothing but a paperweight from the apparation over, but Pepper’s surviving the comparatively short trips around SI. He was definitely going to need an earpiece that could survive long distance apparation if this was going to become a regular thing.

He called home, and JARVIS rerouted him instantly.

“Harry?” Tony answered straight up, sounding breathless.

An idea that had been unfolding for the last few minutes solidified as Tony said his name. Harry could feel the huge reactor underneath his feet, its energy calling to his magic. He’d been ignoring it up until now just as he always ignored the miniaturized version in Tony’s chest, but if he could channel the power in just the right way he could probably make it look as though the reactor had simply exploded through some clever plan of Tony’s. He could probably even direct it if he used the Elder Wand.

“I can blow the big Reactor. It’ll look like you did something clever and I had nothing to do with it.”

There was a pause while Tony grappled with the giant suit before he kicked back a little for breathing room.

“You sure you got it?” Tony asked before jumping up to the back of Stane’s suit, pulling at everything he could until, “This looks important!” a larger cable was rent free.

 Harry grinned despite the situation. When Stane went for witty it was irritating. When Tony did it was actually pretty amusing, though Harry was undoubtably biased.

“You should probably move back if you can. I can _probably_ direct it, but I won’t know how much power it has until it’s too late to do anything about it.”

And of course, that was the moment when Stane tore free Tony’s faceplate and threw the battered suit to the middle of the glass roof. Right over the reactor.

“Ah, Fuck.” He heard through the phone connection seconds before Stane opened fire, shattering the glass beneath Iron Man. It was only luck that Tony managed to grab onto beam to stop himself.

“Tony?” Harry asked, unsure.

Stane was still trying to fire, but his guidance system wasn’t working. He was still taunting Tony loudly and arrogantly and despite the fact he was missing, his shots were getting closer.

“Guess you’re gonna have to go for it.” Tony said, clear even through the damaged helmet. Harry could see him from his position on the edge of the roof, his eyes dark and serious with a cut across the bridge of his nose from the shattered glass. He looked angry, but Harry knew it was because they’d underestimated Stane, because Tony was forced to rely on an obsolete reactor, because Tony wanted to protect Harry from everything but always forgot that Harry could look after himself as well.

“Love you.” Harry said before hanging up, putting the phone away and summoning the elder wand.

Tony was still staring at him, mouthing the words, _love you too_ , and then Harry was flicking the elder wand to send Iron Man back to the edge of the roof.

The movement seemed to alert Stane something was not quite right because the lumbering suit was turning towards him, confusion apparent on the man’s face.

Harry closed his eyes with the wand raised just above his waist. His magic was roiling under his skin, tearing against his will but he _forced_ it to move through the wand. The stick of Elder was humming happily in his grasp, bright within his mind. Time moved oddly when he was connected with his magic, fast and fleeting but slow enough to count every second as it moved past.

The reactor was glowing brilliant blue, not quite the shade of Tony’s miniature version but still bright and almost magical in itself. Carefully he reached out, using the wand as an extension of himself to gently poke the swirling energy.

It reacted instantly, pulsing and brighter and much larger than Harry had originally believed. Despite being energy and not magic, it reacted so similarly, playful and just wanting to _do_ something. Magic always reacted like that; it didn’t care what it was doing or whether the act would destroy itself, magic just wanted to be used. The reactor was akin enough that all Harry had to do was show it what he wanted.

He opened his eyes, taking in Stane who was still completing his turn, hand raising to fire as if in slow motion. He held the idea of what he wanted firmly in his mind, resisting the wild, unpredictable energy of the Reactor’s palladium core when it tried to be better, bigger, _more._

_No,_ he thought firmly, _like this_. The elder wand could see what he wanted, curious in a way a wand should never be and so willing to help Harry despite the fact he wanted nothing to do with the Hallows at all. Together they pushed, firm but careful and the reactor’s energy was growing, sparks visible beneath Stane’s feet and the blue was overwhelming but Tony’s dark eyes held him steady.

_Now_ , the Death Stick whispered, excited and eager.

_Yes, now,_ Harry agreed.

The reactor exploded with so much force that Harry lost his footing and the building threatened to give way. He lost sight of Tony, the blue of the explosion overwhelming and exactly what Harry had wanted but it still wanted more. Chain reactions sizzled through the blue, pushing and _pushing_ —

Harry pushed _back_.

Despite being on his hands and knees, despite the fact that this energy wasn’t magic and was more powerful than he had been expecting, Harry was the Master of Death, damn it, and he _would not_ be pushed around.

His magic rushed forward, a glittering green in his mind, racing through the elder wand that gleefully amplified it _just_ so and the blue energy was suffocating beneath the green magic, gasping and dying and _gone_.

 

 

 

Tony was pissed off. Stane was tossing him around like he was nothing using a rip off version of _his suit_ and Harry was watching him get his ass kicked.

So maybe Tony wanted to look good in front of Harry, alright?

Stane kept taunting him, his god complex so large Tony was surprised he could fit through doors. Unfortunately, Tony was struggling to prove him wrong, his reactor drained and suit missing parts because of his own stupidity. Then Harry told him he could blow the reactor.

It was a good idea. If there had been someone on the ground, Tony might have gotten them to overload the reactor, but that would have been messy and uncontrolled and probably would have killed him.

Harry was still going to blow it up, but sounded as though he could actually kind of control it. Hopefully. He sounded confident at least.

Then Tony had to go and do the exactly opposite of what Harry has said he should.

He was hanging on to a beam, the reactor glow reflecting up onto Stane’s giant suit and driving home how perilous his position was. If he were to slip he would die, ability to resurrect himself or not. But this was his fault. If he hadn’t been so oblivious to what was going on right under his nose at his own company, this might never had happened.

His Godfather might not have tried to kill him at least.

“Guess you’re gonna have to go for it.” He said, resigned to being blown up. He was also pretty angry. _He_ was meant to be the one kicking Stane’s ass and taking retribution for Harry _murder_. He was annoyed he’d been blindsided, that he’d not planned ahead and integrated JARVIS into everything including his company, that _his_ technology was still being used to hurt people.

He was furious that Harry had been screwed over once more and was again being forced to become something he _didn’t want to be_.

And his nose kind of hurt.

Harry was staring at him, emerald eyes bright and a half smile in place. He had a touch of colour high on his cheeks. Tony always forgot the effects that growing up in war had on Harry until high adrenaline situations like this came along. Harry honestly enjoyed dangerous situations; not seeking them out and he actually did his best to avoid them, but when they came along he embraced them.

Tony kind of loved him for it. A man after his own heart. He also managed to look super sexy when warrior Harry came out to play. Not that he actually looked too worried right then, now that Tony was paying attention.

“Love you.” Harry said before putting the phone away. Tony abstractly thought he needed to get a move on with the magical shielding so Harry could have his own earpiece.

The stick-wand thing shimmered into view and Tony took his opportunity before everything went to shit. _Love you too_ , he mouthed and at least Harry said it first this time.

And of course, Tony was being super dramatic and self-sacrificing and he’d forgotten the Harry could just magic him out of the way.

He hit the edge of the roof well out of the way of the glass. Stane, obviously surprised, turned to see what the hell was going on but Harry was already working his magic, literally. Tony kept his gaze on the wizard as the arc spat sparks and seconds later the roof blew up and out. Harry looked calm and in control the whole time and Tony realised that Harry could have kicked Stane’s ass at any time.

That was kind of embarrassing.

Then, Stane was simply _gone_.

The explosion was directed carefully in such a way that Tony was actually in no danger. He watched the whole process closely, startled but not really surprised by how much power Harry could control.

For a half second, it looked as if the blue energy would grow but then it was shimmering green and settling, finally dissipating entirely.

Harry was on his hands and knees, and Tony could see his thin shoulders shuddering from where he stood. The wand, which had been sitting a foot or so away shimmered back out of existence.

He pulled bits of his suit off, dropping them carelessly as he moved around the edge of the roof as quickly but as he safely could.

By the time he reached Harry, the smaller male was sitting up with legs crossed but was still trembling. His eyes were wide and blown but he tracked Tony’s movements well enough as he sat down in front of him. Tony reached out slowly, fingers splayed, and watched in fascination as Harry kept his gaze locked on the hand as it moved. With his blown pupils, laser intensity and fine trembling Harry looked like a cat that had rolled in catnip.

Tony couldn’t help but grin widely. It might have had something to do with the fight being over and his adrenaline tapering off or the fact Stane was dead which was good because he couldn’t hurt Harry anymore, but also that Stane was dead and Tony didn’t have a Godfather anymore. But mostly Tony thought it was because he was happy because he and Harry were still alive, even if Harry looked as high as a kite from the rush he must have gotten from the reactor energy.

His grin held strong as he ran fingers through Harry’s soft hair. “You with me Baby Doll? You’re looking a bit spaced.”

Harry watched him closely, green eyes locked on every movement of Tony’s face. Then, after a slow blink, a smile stretched across his face to match Tony’s. “Yeah. Was stronger than I thought.”

Tony watched on fondly. “You saved my ass.”

Harry laughed, loudly and honestly but still with a breathless edge. It was beautiful but tapered off far too quickly. Within a moment Harry was looking at him unhappily. “But it’s my fault your Godfather’s dead.”

Tony pulled Harry closer till their foreheads touched. He was sure that later, when the high of winning and being _alive_ had worn off, he would be upset and angry but he would never be angry with _Harry_ for this.

“If you hadn’t killed him, _I_ would have.” He assured but Harry’s eyes were still big and mournful. “And I’ll tell you this again later when you’re not coming down from an arc reactor high. Okay, Kitty?”

“Okay.” Harry said in agreement. He was slowly becoming limp and compliant in Tony’s grasp, sadness slipping away as the high started to fade a little. “I should go home.” He sighed against Tony’s lips.

“Nah.” Tony disagreed. “I don’t think it’s safe for you to magic while under the influence. We’ll work something out.”

And Harry looked so trusting that Tony would take care of him that his breath caught.

Tony knew he would never take that trust for granted and he would protect it. It didn’t matter that Harry could take care of himself; Tony would be better, fix the suit and JARVIS and if anyone tried to hurt Harry, or take him away?

Well, it would look like Stane had gotten off easy.

 

 

 

They were about to hold the conference.

Coulson, who somehow still didn’t know about Harry, was telling him he’d been on his yacht with fifty other people. Sounded just plausible enough that everyone would think it was bullshit.

There were other holes too, but Coulson seemed sure everything was fine.

“This isn’t my first rodeo, Mr Stark. Just stick to the official statement, and soon, this will all be behind you. You’ve got ninety seconds.”

It was right then that he knew Harry had been right, damn it. Tony was totally going to say he was Iron Man.

Pepper was thanking the agent, and joy of joys, he finally admitted he worked for SHIELD. As if Tony was stupid enough not to notice what the letters stood for.

When they were alone, Pepper started fixing his suit. “You’re sure Harry’s okay at home by himself?”

Tony grinned. “Yeah. He kinda got high then crashed. Sort of. If you’d let him tell you his thing you wouldn’t have to wonder all the time.”

Pepper was smiling back. “I want to see if I can work it out.”

“Okay, sounds like fun.” Tony couldn’t help but laugh. That could be an excellent game.

“Good luck.” Pepper said with a half smile. It seemed the only one who didn’t know he’d be deviating from the cards was Agent Agent.

 

 

 

He looked around the room, flashing cameras and microphones in a sea of reporters.

He was _so_ going to be on every news station tonight.

“Yeah, okay. Yeah…The truth is…” Pause for dramatic effect.

“I am Iron Man.”

He could just picture Harry sitting on the couch at home laughing himself silly. It was a nice thought.

 

 

 

“There’s a strange man in our house. He’s wearing an eyepatch and he thinks you’re an idiot.” Harry informed him, sounding remarkably unconcerned that someone had broken into the house, especially when it hadn’t gone so well that last time. And that the stranger thought Tony was an idiot.

“The hell!?” Came Tony’s totally unconcerned and cool reply, definitely showing his lack of panic at the situation.

Harry hummed back and Tony could hear kitchen sounds in the background.

“Are you making him coffee? Why are you making the guy who broke into our house coffee?” Tony, who was just now pulling into the driveway, pressed the accelerator down harder than he’d intended, almost driving up the front steps.

“Yeah. Thought it’d be rude not to. I’m giving him one of the cookies as well.” Tony could hear the smile in Harry’s voice but that didn’t affect his reaction.

“You’re giving away my cookies?!”

Tony hadn’t gotten to the lounge from the front door so quickly in his _life_.

The first through Tony had was _huh, he actually has an eyepatch_. Then, _he is definitely a SHIELD guy. Oops._

Harry was sitting on the couch looking as cool as something cold. Tony would have gone for something more descriptive but honestly, he was still distracted by the eyepatch.

Speaking of, Eyepatch was glaring at him, but he was sipping coffee and eating a cookie so Tony looked to Harry again instead.

Now that he was really looking, Harry was faking his indifference. His back was just a little too straight, his eyes just a little too bright as though his magic were close to the surface.

He looked totally badass and Tony was having thoughts that were not appropriate for company. Harry always looked amazing when he let out a touch of his war hardened side, though Tony would have preferred he hadn’t gone through what it took to acquire it. Now it was here though, it would be a shame not to enjoy it.

“Uh, hi.” He tried, gaze moving from Harry to Eyepatch. “Who are you?”

Eyepatch was _very_ good at scowling. He was also slightly familiar. He actually looked like one of Howard’s buddies, which meant he was probably pretty high up the chain.

“Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD.”

Oh, _shit_.

“Director Fury seems to be under the impression that you’ve decided to tell the world you’re Iron Man because you’re a childish moron who doesn’t understand consequences.” Harry informed him, lips quirking with amusement but eyes hard. Harry didn’t like people disrespecting his privacy. Unless it was Tony spying on him because he loved Tony.

Tony tried to grin. “Well, I understand consequences.”

It was a weak attempt, but Harry thawed slightly. Fury was nowhere near as impressed.

“You’re part of something bigger now. I’m here to talk to you about the Avenger’s initiative.”

Well, this was a bit more interesting.

 

 

 

After Fury had explained, kind of, Tony pulled Harry to their bed.

Well, Fury hadn’t really explained anything much, just the basic idea and maybe one day in the future it might happen so Tony should be ready. Harry assumed the idea had been to intimidate Tony a bit, but that plan had been skewed slightly by Harry’s presence.

Fury had recognized him, sort of. He was very suspicious at the least that Harry was Helena, but he seemed like the kind of person to suspect everything so that might not mean much.

Tony was being cuddly, pulling Harry down so that they were facing each other on their sides with barely any room between them. Tony had arms wrapped around him and their legs were intertwined. It was more comfortable than he'd been expecting. It was a shame the conversation would be anything but.

Tony’s dark eyes were sharp on his face. “Okay. Spill.”

They hadn’t really talked much the night before. Harry had been pretty out of it, half tired from so much magical use, half spaced from the rush.

He had thought about what to say though, so he at least had a starting point.

“I’m going to say something, and your mind won’t like it. I want you to ignore that and tell me what it _feels_ like.”

One of Tony’s eyebrows rose slightly in response. Harry understood; Tony trusted him mind above most else. He trusted Harry enough to give it a go however. “If you say so.”

“Close your eyes.” Harry instructed, whispering and moving their faces closer so that they were breathing the same air. Harry closed his eyes too, stoking his magic gently so he could watch its reaction.

He took a deep breath before speaking, soft and warm and _loving_ like he knew his magic wanted. “My Merchant of Death.” He crooned, and wasn’t surprised when his magic _purred_ in response, so happy he was saying it. The Hallows vibrated against the edges of his magical awareness, hovering on the borders of his mind as they always did.

God damn it. This was _not_ what he’d been hoping for.

He opened his eyes slowly, afraid of what he might find.

Tony’s eyes were already open, watching him careful but not angrily and he didn’t look upset or anything.

Harry frowned slightly. “You knew.” He accused, not entirely surprised.

Tony half shrugged. “You talk in your sleep when you’re worried.”

Merlin _damn it_. _That’s_ how Ron had known he liked men as well as women!

Tony smiled as though he could hear Harry’s inner monologue, but more likely it was the scowling and downturned lips.

Harry tried to clear his expression, focusing back to the problem on hand. “Well?”

Tony was smiling but it wasn’t all happy nor particularly sad. He actually looked kind of wistful. “It was nice. Warm. I had hoped to leave that title behind, but…”

Harry immediately felt terrible. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”

Tony moved, quick as a snake and suddenly Harry was underneath him. Tony was framing his face with his hands and his face was serious. “It’s not your fault. You ended up with those stupid Hallows by accident and you’ve _tried_ to get rid of them.” His voice was warm and sincere. “And I do _not_ regret a single moment of knowing and loving you, Hadrian James. Even if I could, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Harry’s chest felt full and his smile was ever so slightly watery but he had been so _worried_. Worried that Tony would find out and leave him, tell Harry that he never wanted anything to do with him again. Would blame Harry for cursing him like this, for getting him stuck with a title he hated.

“I love you.” Tony said again, firmly, before rolling them back again.

“So I assume,” He went on, arms wrapping back around Harry. “That I’m the Merchant and you’re the Master of Death, right?” Harry nodded through a warm shudder. His magic _really_ liked it when Tony called him that. “And you at least are having trouble dying. And I remember cutting my nose in the fight with Stane, but it was definitely healed by the time we got into the car to go home, so it’s probably me too.”

Again, Harry nodded. Tony had figured most of it out himself.

“Something happened though, when you died.” Tony finished, looking upset at the thought. Harry gave him a quick kiss.

“I saw someone I think. I only really remember fragments.” He admitted, trying once more without success to picture the Being that had appeared before him. He shied away from calling the Being Death; he didn’t remember enough to be sure. “I think it was like…an introduction. But nicer. Like they’d been waiting to meet me and was happy they had. It had. Maybe.”

Tony looked thoughtful. “So, someone you saw when you were dead liked you.” He tried, brows pulled together in a little frown.

“Yeah, I think so.” He murmured, fascinated by Tony as he tried to solve a problem without enough variables. Then Tony seemed to reach a conclusion for now, forehead crinkling further with annoyance. “So we wait?”

Harry grinned a little. “Yeah. Your favourite thing.” Everyone knew how much Tony _hated_ waiting. “I’m sure I can keep you distracted though.” He added, knowing it was horribly cliché but hey, it was true.

Tony wiggled his eyebrows theatrically sending Harry into loud laughter.

Now all Harry had to do was to stop Tony poking himself with pointy things to see how long it would take him to heal.

Damn hyperactive genius engineers.

 

 

 


End file.
